The Queen and the Pauper
by Prestige Productions
Summary: Satellizer L. Bridget wasn't the only one brought into the cold, unfeeling bosom of the L Bridget Manor. This is the story of an orphan boy who was treated like a dog, became a Pauper, then rose to fight alongside true warriors through one mad scientist's machinations
1. Freak of Nature

_**Welp, as I strive to further distance myself from fanfic woes brought on by a different series. I thought I'd dip my toe into the waters of a series I've learned to love, thanks to an ex I now absolutely despise.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Aside from the OC, I own nothing!**_

Abel Reinhardt was a young man who believed in paying his debts. It was one of the few thoughts that had kept him going through the harsh trials that were quickly becoming a norm in his seventeen year old life, as he look around the darkened combat area spread out before him he would give a slight chuckle before slipping the plague doctor's mask over his face and giving the thumbs up for the white-coated individuals watching overhead to begin the test.

 _"One last hurdle, then maybe I can finally get to where I need to go."_ The sounds of footsteps would echo throughout the area as the Pandora made their way into the designated combat zone, giving the rose-haired young man little chance of getting an actual hostile count, not that it mattered to him in the long run. After all the months of painful experimentation, agonizing simulation runs against dummy Nova, and the maddening psychological "therapy" sessions, a few more bodies at his feet would be a small price to pay in order to finally come face to face with the girl whose family had saved him from going down the same criminal path that all men in his bloodline had willingly chosen. "Not gonna even bother using my weapon yet, just gonna trust my-" The voices of the Pandora summoning their Volt Weapons would cause him to shudder with anticipation and start grinning underneath the mask, the Pandora were usually never allowed to summon their weapons during the trial unless he were in direct combat with him and even then it was one Pandora at a time.

"Well Shit…"

Watching from the observation room above the stern expression upon the usually visage of Dr. Parcé Ciel would fit her coldly analytical nature, watching the boy whose body carried the fruits of her greatest achievement: she had spent years cultivating Stigmata that would not only allow males to use the same abilities that Pandora to use, but also forego the detriment of having to rely of a Limiter in order to initiate a Freezing area in order to fight at their full prowess. The added strength and speed benefits were enough to counteract whatever usefulness came with the use of an Ereinbar Set, her pet project had already proven this with his successful destruction of her dummy Nova.

"Give me vitals on the test subject please." The mocha-skinned woman would watch on in silence as the young man easily back-stepped an attack from one Pandora's hammer weapon before moving his head just slightly to avoid a barrage of bullets from another's weapon, satisfied that his battle senses were at their peak. "Good to know that the Shrinks are doing their job, personal needs contribute nothing to the success of Project Incubus" Parcé could help but giggle at the sheer lunacy of her project's code name: Incubus, a demon that came to women in their beds and sleep with them and (depending on what version of the legend is being told) would either leave the woman with child, or the woman would eventually waste away from repeated visits from her otherworldly bed-mate.

"All vitals signs are green, stigmata are behaving normally Professor Ciel" The lab tech behind her would speak up before the bloodcurdling screams of a Pandora would drown out anything else he said. "Subject Abel has yet to actually release his weapon, shall I activate Psych Generators?" Parcé would hold up a hand to silence him, watching on as Abel bisected one Pandora with her own broadsword before breaking another's arm and casually walking through the combat area calmly.

"Professor, why does the subject wear that mask during the trials? It's kind of…creepy." A female lab tech would frown as she watched the masked test subject furiously dodging a concerted assault by three Pandora at once, parts of his mask being shredded as he dodged and weaved through their attacks as best he could. "Heart rate increasing slightly."

The amethyst-haired woman would nod while mulling over the scene that was now playing out before her, smiling as Abel grabbed two of the trio by their face and smashed them against the wall violently even as the third slashed him down the back with her Naginata.

"Start sending medics out to retrieve the fallen, inform the remaining Pandora to call for their Limiters. It's time for the training wheels to be taken off, let's see if sweet little Abel has what it takes to live up to his true potential." Ceil would start flipping through the report her various colleagues had compiled for her, stopping at the psychiatrist's notes and smiling wickedly as she read what was written within.

 _"Medical units inbound! I repeat, medic units inbound! Please redirect combat to section A-32!"_ Abel would through up his hands helplessly as he began running toward the designated area, it's not like he planned to attack the medics as they scooped up the wounded. "I may be Parcé's guinea pig, but I'm still SOMEWHAT human! Not a beast!" The rose-haired young man would stop running just in time to avoid plowing into a busty, brunette Pandora holding a Mace in her hands and a hint of a smile on her face.

"Well isn't this my lucky day, the professor's pet project nearly falls into my LAP!" Hana Inazuka, a Pandora formerly of West Genetics academy that Parcé Ceil had brought onto the project specifically to test his more…personal attributes. "Today's the day I finally get my ticket **BACK** to West Genetics!" She would continue trying to embed the mace into his skull, but the young man would keep backpedaling through the narrow hallway as best he could.

"Hana move!" Her limiter would call out as the two combatants finally stepped out into an open, circular area where the remaining Pandora and their Limiters waited for them. "Time's finally up on your little Cinderella story, you pinkie pie haired sonofova-" The other limiters would initiate their Freezing areas before the loudmouth could finish his taunt, leaving Abel pinned under the weight of no less then five separate Freezing areas. "Geez guys, you couldn't have waited another few seconds? I had a whole bit planned!"

The rose-haired young man would growl quietly, the Freezing effectively halting his movement entirely as the cold-hearted scientist was no doubt watching on to see how he'd react. "What is this? You said these trials were to test my physical abilities, Limiters shouldn't be anywhere near these grounds!" The professor's voice would be heard over the speakers as she chuckled darkly, the sounds of papers crumpling further agitating him.

 _"You fool, do you honestly believe that the Nova are your only enemies, the Pandora of the other schools would no doubt consider you a freak of nature..some of the more petulant ones might even try to attack you with their Limiters."_ She would let out an uncharacteristic giggle as her project continued to growl like a rabid beast, an idea suddenly coming to mind as she cut off the intercom and turned to her lab techs with a cruel smile. "Patch me through to the isolation room, and tell our puppet that it's showtime. If force won't rattle his chains free, then perhaps we need to hit him a little closer to home" She would turn back to find the remaining Pandora all taking deliberately slow and shallow shots at him with their weapons, with the exception of Hana who was busy prying a ring off of Abel's hand.

"Wow this looks pretty pricey. Nothing says I can't kick your ass AND go home rich!" She would admire the rose-colored gem sitting pretty atop the silver band, even letting out a small whistle as she took note of the inscription on the inside of it "Cor Fortium..? What in the heck does that mean anyway?"

One of the other Limiter's would perk up suddenly, dashing to the front to inspect the ring closely. "It means "Brave Heart" in Latin, clearly somebody thinks very highly of our odd friend here." The tawny-haired Limiter in question would kneel down to look at Abel excitedly, the gleam in his eyes was one borne out of curiosity rather than greed. "Pardon me, but can I ask where you got such a fancy ring?"

Abel's eyes would glisten with the threat of tears as he remembered the face of the woman who had given him the ring in question, his teeth gritting harder as he tried to break free of the Freezing. "I got it…from the daughter of the person who saved my life!"

His mind would flash back to the image of a smiling Violet L. Bridget presenting him with the ring earlier that evening, even though the then autumn-haired boy was confused as to why he was receiving it in the first place.

"It's been seven years since our Father adopted you into the family, and I thought you should have something to commemorate the occasion!" Violet's eyes would shimmer with happiness as she gently slid the ring onto Abel's finger, winking as her reflection shone in its jewel. "And besides, there may be a day where you decide to leave us and spread your wings as you fly across this great big world so..I wanted you to have something to remember us by." Her eyes would briefly glisten with tears before hugging the boy tightly despite the latter's confused and quickly blushing face, sure Violet adored her other younger brother Louis, and the addition of her new stepsister only heightened the joy she was currently feeling. But the connection she shared with Abel was a close one, immediately taking the boy under her wing and doing her best to make his life a happy one even before his adoption was officially underway.

"Aww c'mon sis I'm not exactly ready to leave the nest at all right now. Besides with Satella and Miss Noelle under our roof you need all the help you can get." The boy would given an even brighter smile before hugging his older sister tightly, fully believing that at the time that he could do good by those who saved him. It was the reason why he had decided to visit Satellizer's room that night, he had planned to show her the ring and make the same promise that Violet had made him on his first night as a member of the family: Though we may not be bound together by blood, my heart is always with you. No matter where you go, we will always be family.

"Satella, my little Satella..such a good girl." Alarm bells would immediately go off in his head upon hearing the voice of his brother Louis L. Bridget, he had seen the treatment that the boy had levied upon his own half-sister: from the cruelest of verbal mud slung, to even witnessing the young man riding Satella like a horse at one point. Back then Violet had intervened before Abel could properly react and defend his half-sister, but as Abel looked into the room and saw Louis moving his hand under Satellizer's nightgown and knowing that by the time he found Violet and brought her back it would be far too late. It fell to him to react and protect his family, although for a crime of this magnitude a simple scolding was far from the punishment he deserved.

"You monster!" Throwing the door open quickly, he would leap onto Louis and nail him with a right cross before either sibling could react to his presence. He would continue hitting his so-called brother as hard as he could, even ignoring Satella's screams for him to stop. "You filthy pig! Violating your own family like this-" Abel's angered ranting would be cut off as Louis kicked him off and glared down at the boy, kicking him in the ribs violently.

"But she's not my family, just like you're no brother of mine!" He would continue kicking at the downed young man until reaching over and retrieving the lamp from Satellizer's nightstand and holding it above his head with a crazed look on his face. "You're just some stray dog my father took pity on, just like she's the daughter of my father's WHORE! She deserves to be used, which is what I'm going to do after I put you down mongrel!"

Abel would close his eyes tightly, awaiting the final blow and the end of his happier life. But that blow would never come, and upon opening his eyes he would find Violet standing over Louis who was now sporting a fresh red handprint on his cheek. "Vio-let.." He would try and reach out to her, catching sight of the gift she had given him before the pain of his injuries caused him to double over in agony. "Sorry…"

When he came to the next day, Violet would be sitting at his bedside with a somber look upon her face. It was the kind of look that said "I wish I didn't have to do this"

"Abel..Satellizer told me everything that happened, and while I appreciate you stepping in when you did..I don't think it would be right for you to stay with us anymore." The usually dazzling shimmer that he had gotten used to seeing in Violet's eyes was long gone, replaced with a lifeless look as she watched him begin to remove the ring "Don't. That ring is rightfully yours, just because we're sending you away doesn't mean that our promise is broken." She would squeeze his hand gently as the two of them just looked at one another in silent understanding, thanks to Howard's connections he would be placed in one of the lesser known Academies and eventually fall under Parcé Ciel's supervision.

Abel would snarl as Hana continued to prance around him, occasionally waving it in his face just to taunt him. "I swear, as God is my witness I will slice that ring from your shriveled monkey's paw before I beat you bloody with HER leg!" He would glare at a red-headed Pandora who wore her crimson locks in pigtails, he would get a dumbfounded look in response as she had done little to actually hurt him once the Freezing areas were in place. "That ring was given to me by someone I love more than life itself, it's not some silly little trinket you can dick around with!" Unbeknownst to him, a rose-colored aura would be building up around him even as the professor looked on in amazement as her creation was finally getting serious.

"Professor Ciel, Stigmata Activity is increasing at an alarming rate! If this continues, his body might burn out!" The balding scientist nearest to her left would watch the readings with a nervous look upon his brow, the numbers steadily rising as fast a speedometer would when paired with a lead-footed driver. "Shouldn't we apply the dampeners and pull back the Pandora and Limiters?"

The woman would shake her head visibly as she noticed the anger boiling to the surface, her expression morphing to one of manic glee as her Pandora continued to taunt the young man. "Now Abel, let it loose..show me that determination which has allowed you to come this far!" Out of the corner of her eye, she would see the white-coated man beginning to punch in the commands to activate the room's power dampening fields and essentially put a halt to the breakthrough they were about to witness. Quickly grabbing a pen from the man's desk she would then proceed to violently stab him in the jugular, ignoring the horrified screams of the other scientists before pulling his assistant in closer.

"Monitor those numbers or suffer the same fate as your boss!" She would snarl as a roar of defiance could be heard from below, drawing her attention back to the combat area as Abel slowly began to stand despite the Freezing fields he was placed in.

Hana would watch on in horror mid-prance as her prey stood tall, a detestable aura blanketing him like a protective cloak, the others would each exchange looks of horror and words of shock as the Freezing fields began to shatter. "Wh-what the Hell? What kind of monster can withstand SIX Freezing fields?!" The brunette would deploy her mace once again, only for him to hold out his hand silently.

"Volt Weapon. Deploy!" A scythe would appear in his outstretched hand just as he made a sweeping gesture with it, effectively severing the Pandora's arms from her body and shocking the other Pandora into action as they charged into attack. "Sangré Rose, help me reap vengeance!" Abel would spin his scythe once before countering the attacks as he repelled their assault with a newborn ferocity while Parcé watched on as giddy as a child on Christmas morning, twitching with excitement as the Pandora collapsed one by one and eventually even attempting to turn on their limiters as well.

"Activate the dampeners and deploy the medics, our mission has finally been accomplished at long last, he's finally awakened to his power at long last." The platinum-haired scientist would watch as Abel retrieved his treasured ring from Hana's severed finger and begin wiping off the blood thoroughly. "And to think, all it took was some tiny little trinket to unleash his rage completely."

 _ **Hoo boy, I had me some fuuunnnn writing this! I've come to enjoy the Freezing series thanks to the Blu-Ray of the series that I received from my ex two years back, I also adored Freezing: Vibrations when that came out. So great was my excitement that I didn't even wait for Funimation to dub it (and I love those people), so to FINALLY be able to write a fanfic about the series is a long time coming and it's a fantastic feeling.**_

 _ **So, I have a bit of a poll running on my profile page, I'll keep this story going according to a schedule but if you want me to keep going through 2017 with this and other Freezing stories go give it a vote**_


	2. Ballad of the Pauper I

_**Well, Chapter 2 of my Freezing fic..am I alone here?**_

Abel could barely remember life before the L. Bridget manor, the head of the family: A wealthy businessman named Howard L. Bridget had taken the boy off of the streets on a bitterly cold and rainy day, in the beginning he had only intended to shelter him until Abel's family could be located but upon hearing the young man's sad tale of being purposely abandoned by his father after losing a knife fight with his twin brother Cain.

 _"I told father, that brothers shouldn't fight..and..well."_ He remembered pointing to the scar that extended past his left eye with a bitter sob, before Howard could go to comfort the boy Abel would smack himself harshly while gritting his teeth and enduring the pain. _"Before I was tossed out Father said to remember the pain of this mark, it proves your weakness as a man who is unwilling to fight is unfit to be called a man at all!"_ As the young man was readying himself for another blow, Howard would embrace the child in a hug his own father had no doubt denied the boy growing up. Even as the young man broke down into a fit of sobs and embraced the businessman as best he could, Abel still felt the need to punish himself even still.

 _"Your father was incorrect, it takes more than brute strength to make a boy into a man. A true man stands by his convictions and uses his strength to defend those who can't fight."_ Howard would stand up slowly, placing his hand upon the young man's shoulder and giving him a loving smile. "We men always put the safety of our family above all else, even our own desires." Howard would waste little time in having a private investigator look into Abel's family, and after it was revealed that they were in fact a traveling troupe of jewel thieves they were promptly arrested mid-heist

"I should've been shuffled off into the system with the rest of the unwanted children, but my new father saw fit to protect me and even bring me into his own home." The rose-haired young man could still remember the butterflies in his stomach as he hid behind Howard's leg when the introductions were being made, Olivia (the lady of the house) was busy doting over her younger son Louis and giving him the tiniest bits of acknowledgement while his daughter Violet would look at him with fresh eyed curiosity. _"It's alright Abel, come and say hello to your new family."_

The young boy would squeak in surprise before letting go of Howard's leg and stepping forward to give a proper bow to his new mother and siblings. _"H-hello..my name is Abel, I-it's an honor to meet you all, and thank you for letting me be a part of your family."_ He would gulp audibly as the nerves began getting the better of him, and while Olivia would give him the chilliest of stares before returning to doting on her Louis but Violet would give him a radiant smile before racing down to meet him and give him a big hug.

 _"Oooh I'm so happy to have another brother in the family! It's going to be great having you with us Abel!"_ Whatever nerves he had been feeling at the time were slowly washed away as he slowly retuned her hug, it reminded him of his new father in a way: Sure there was strength and exuberance behind it all but he could feel a warmth at the center of it all, she wouldn't be like the others in his life who sought to exploit him and use him as a puppet for their own gains.

Unlike present company.

"Wake up Abel you foolish boy!" His blissful sleep would be interrupted by a hard smack to the back of his head, rattling him back into the present and startling the Pandora across from him as Professor Ciel glared at her pet project. "Miss Phenyl has done us a gracious service by joining us on the plane ride back to West Genetics and the least you can do is show her a modicum of respect." She would lean back in her seat with an annoyed expression upon her face as Abel shook off the remainder of the cobwebs and faced the raven-haired Pandora in question.

"Shit now I remember: Miss Ticy was the one to meet us outside the base when the carrier helicopter landed, apparently I'm not the only knucklehead who transferred into West Genetics mid-term." Abel would look to the silent girl whose face was somewhat mortified by the professor's harsh treatment and immediately show off a calm smile, more for her benefit then his own as he watched her slowly sigh in relief. "You'll have to forgive the Professor, like most eggheads she works insanely long hours with very little sleep and is very cranky when denied her coffee." His smile would morph into a very cheeky grin despite feeling the older woman's furious gaze upon him, meanwhile Ticy would start to giggle slightly at his improved mood before looking down at his transfer papers.

"Hmm, this would make you the second boy I know named Abel. Funny how our world works isn't?" She would laugh nervously as her attempt at small talk seemed to fall on deaf ears, the white coated woman angrily gesturing for her to "hurry up" while the rose-haired boy seemed taken aback by her words entirely. "I-I mean because of my Limiter you see, h-he's named Abel too a-and you're named Abel so…" Her heart would sink slightly as her explanation of the jest only served to make the atmosphere between them all even more awkward, only to hear Abel sigh in disappointment.

"So what you're tell me is that not only is there another guy named Abel already at my new school, but he's already gone and snagged himself the prettiest Pandora there too?" He would give a more exaggerated sigh of disappointment this time before winking in her direction and causing her to blush in embarrassment as she hid behind the paperwork, relaxing in his seat before looking at her with a serious expression. "Although in all seriousness Miss Ticy, I'm well aware of West Genetics could teach me: I know that Pandora are trained to fight the Nova, creatures that we have very little information on: Where they come from, why they're attacking us. But what's really bothering me is why West Genetics accepted my transfer request when every other Genetics Academy turned me away, not that I'm complaining." He would see the professor rolling her eyes in disgust at the obvious answer to his question, as she figured it was down to the L. Bridget family's influence (or to be more specific, the patriarch of the family himself.) since he already had a child in their care.

Ticy would still be a blushing mess even as she looked past the paperwork and a good look at the young man himself, noting that he wore a modified version of the Genetics Academy uniform from a branch she didn't recognize. "Well ya see, we've been getting reports of your…unique circumstances. Never in our history has a male with the abilities of a Pandora been heard of until lately, and Sister Margaret thought it would be prudent for you to learn in a more open environment then your current Academy setup." She would give him a friendly smile before looking down at the paperwork once again, analytical notes of his data readings only serving to confuse her. "Besides..isn't it lonely being the only big fish in a small pond?"

Parcé would scoff at the Pandora's jests as she observed the pair now conversing over meaningless subjects like the weather and even her own Limiter, the other boy known as Abel. "There's no point to my Incubus being put in with normal Pandora and Limiters. Friendship, lovers, stability..none of these should matter to a weapon such as him."

For Satellizer L. Bridget the Carnival was just another excuse for her to let loose and prove her abilities to her fellow Pandora, and for the fair-haired woman it was child's play as she raced through the combat area and dismantling any unfortunate soul who had been stupid enough to try and fight her. Eventually it had come down to a one-on-one fight between herself and a Pandora known as Ganessa Roland (a.k.a. the Angel of Binding) and under normal circumstances that would have been the end of it as she would've left with the title of top-ranked second year Pandora, unfortunately the appearance of a newcomer would derail any hopes of such a thing happening. Ganessa had pinned her down with her Chains of Binding and cemented her place at the top of the Second Years, leaving Satella injured and now sitting in the infirmary as her eye was now being bandaged and the rest of her wounds being looked at.

"H-he touched me..but it didn't feel bad, not like back then." Her body would tremble at the memories of her brother Louis taking liberties with her body during the midnight hours, not even going to her mother had proven effective as Noelle Allongraich had her own hands full fighting a losing battle with illness. She still couldn't quite recall what had happened on the last night of her step-brother's violating visits, but she did remember someone- another boy busting through the door and stopping the madness, a rabid dog that had gotten free of its chain and proceeded to lay waste to her tormentor. "Why..why can't I remember his face, his name?" Her mind would flash back to the night in question: Louis's hand moving far to close to her private area as his voice whispered words not meant for her virgin ears, the sound of the doors being flung open and the flash of blue sapphire out of the corner of her eye. "I could try asking Violet but…no, the best thing I could do for everyone right now is to keep my distance. Maybe my injuries are actually getting the best of me." With her thoughts finally centered and the events of the Carnival behind her, Satellizer could finally focus on getting back to her regular studies as a Pandora. Being ranked second would do little to deter her from her goal of being the best and not losing to anyone to anyone, be it a stuck up Pandora like Ganessa who had gotten lucky due to somebody else's interference or a boy who had managed to touch her without making her skin crawl in repulsion.

As for the one who had finally been able to save her from Louis's lecherous advances, well there was a reason she considered herself an L. Bridget in name alone.

 _ **For the record, I didn't know Ticy's Limiter was named Abel. Did I know she had a Limiter? Yep. Almost all Pandoras at a Genetics Academy have one (Unless you're Miyabi, then you have quite a few and ohohohoho I can't wait to drag that Man-eating bitch into the Limelight!)**_

 _ **If by some miracle you like the content of what you're reading and wanna see plenty more in 2017, then go vote for Freezing in the poll on my Profile page.**_

 _ **I'd also like to thank fellow Freezing fic writer Veidin for their Freezing fics, honestly I was about to declare this canceled due to lack up inspiration until I stumbled upon their stories.**_

 _ **Ta-Ta for now!**_


	3. Ghosts of My Sister

_**Fuck Intro to Logic and Fuck Windows 10!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Aside from my OC Abel, I own nothing!**_

Kazuya Aoi would still feel some heat in his cheeks from the earlier events of the Carnival, he knew that he should've stayed out of the way of the fight and let things unfold as they were supposed to. He was a new student barely an hour into his tenure at West Genetics and should've done the proper thing and stayed by the side of his designated guide in the Third Year Pandora and Student Council President Chiffon Fairchild.

But the moment he saw the blonde-haired Pandora land before his eyes, logic was thrown out the window quicker then the metaphorical baby and its bathwater. His mind flashing back to the last time he had seen his sister Kazuha, readying herself for what would turn out to be her final battle against the Nova. " _I begged her not to go, every time she would be called into battle could've been her last...she was the only family I had at the time."_ Still, even knowing that his sister had perished in the 8th Nova Clash as a hero hadn't deterred him from seeing her ghost in the very instant that the fair-haired Pandora appeared. He would even go so far as to wrap his arms around her waist as he lost himself in the joy at once again seeing his sister seemingly alive and well.

" _I could've sworn it was Kazuha, she looked so much like her that I lost myself and..."_ Kazuya would clench his fists as he remembered just how bizarre his behavior had gotten during the events, burying his face into her bust and nuzzling her as he would when he was a younger man while unaware of the Freezing Area being generated below them or that he was the one behind its creation. " _It was like finally being able to see her again, but I guess it was only her ghost."_

Chiffon would continue to watch over the new transfer student with a mix of intrigue and worry, he had already caused quite the stir by creating a Freezing area mid-carnival and that was already a major eyebrow-raiser as unbaptized Limiters shouldn't be capable of such a feat. But perhaps the most shocking fact of his interference was that he had literally touched the "Untouchable Queen" Satellizer L. Bridget herself, and this wasn't just a brief brush against her shoulder either..he had gone for full-on bodily contact and THEN SOME. The fact that she hadn't beaten him into a bloody pulp right then and there was nothing short of divine intervention, even when Ganessa Roland had actually scored the victory and attained the top ranking for all the second year Pandora she did not retaliate against the boy who had cost her. " _A boy this lucky should be playing the lottery, not here at the Academy training to fight the Nova!"_ The brown-haired Pandora would continue to watch over the brooding Limiter to-be for a few moments longer before feeling her cell phone vibrate, taking it out of her pocket and looking down at the screen to see messages from her friend and fellow student council member Ticy Phenyl. " _Hmm, it seems Ticy's gotten back ahead of schedule. Hopefully the Pandora she brought back with her won't pose us too much trouble."_ She would look up from her phone to see that Kazuya was still very much reflecting on what happened before they had decided to take a ride to the dorms, wondering if this newcomer would be a good fit for him.

Abel would remain still as the machines in the infirmary continued to scan and analyze his body, no doubt Parcé would be watching over these results shrewdly as the nurse, a former Pandora named Elize Schmitz who seemed very curious at the thought of a male that boasted Pandora-abilities albeit in a skeptical sort of way. " _No doubt the Prof's having a field day lording over her accomplishments and criticizing how outdated the tech here is."_ He could only hope that the hair dye had taken effect and kept his hair a normal sandy brown, it was bad enough that he was already a scientific freak of nature but to have rose-colored hair to boot would make him a target for the boys as well as the women. " _Apparently this is the Academy where Satella is training, after all these years..all the beatdowns, the experiments, the practice dummies..I may have finally found my long lost sister!"_ He would briefly feel his heart swell with joy at the thought of being reunited with his adopted sibling, only for the exhilaration to dampen after seeing the sapphire ring that he wore so proudly resting beside his reading glasses. " _Well, one of them at least..."_ A brief flash of Violet's smiling face would cause his heart to sink momentarily before being cut off by the intercom buzzing to life.

"We've finished our analysis Mr. Reinhardt, you're in perfect fighting shape..could stand to drink a bit more water every so often though." The slight reprimand by Elize would by met with a cocky smile and a thumbs-up from the still undressed young man before jogging over to retrieve his clothes and slip on his ring with a noticeable sigh of relief before pulling aside the curtain to re-dress, leaving the doctor to glare at the mocha-skinned scientist with suspicion as she double checked the results of his lab tests. "I don't know how you managed to pull this off Ciel, and some part of me isn't really sure if I want to know what horrible Frankenstein B.S. you worked to make it happen but he's the first healthy and fully-functional male Pandora in our history."

Parcé would give the veteran Pandora a smug smile of accomplishment as she observed the data shown on Elize's screen as she quickly typed it down into her own device and watched as it computed and altered her current projections for Abel's growth, her eyebrow furrowing as she noticed a .01% decrease in muscle mass and making a mental note to reinforce his requirement to optimum physical fitness. "No need for such baseless accusations my dear Doctor Schitz, I assure you that it is all due to sweet little Abel's will to help his fellow human beings." She would tap her foot impatiently as she waited for her ward to pull back the curtain and let them proceed to the "Special Dormitory" that Sister Margaret had promised to set up during her earlier correspondence with the head of their former Academy. " _Something near his fellow Pandora, yet somehow away from them at the same time. While I appreciate the added isolation factor, it's not like he hasn't seen a naked woman in his life."_

"It's **Schmitz** actually, and my so-called accusation isn't as baseless as you'd like to believe Professor, ever since the days of Maria Lancelot the Pandora have always been women, and while I applaud your "efforts" in the fields of science, I can't help but question the ethical validity of your so-called methods." Elize would save the data for later viewing with Sister Margaret, or at the very least her friend and teacher of the Academy Yu-mi Kim. "Although I will admit that the young man is a very stubborn talent indeed, based on the scars I observed his training must have been...vigorous to say the least." The two women would glare at one another for a bit before noticing that the curtain was being pulled back and Abel was calmly placing his reading glasses in their case, a small smile on his face as he placed the case in his pocket.

"Saved by the curtain it seems, well Doctor Schitz I'd say that this conversation was enlightening but..well lets just say that my mother didn't raise a liar." The mocha-skinned woman would give a small chuckle before exiting the observation room and rejoining the young man in question, intending to give him a thorough talking to when he noticed the brief flash of agitation on his face as he walked on ahead of her.

Kazuya didn't even bother to think before pressing the button that signaled the driver to stop, seeing the Pandora who resembled his lost sibling slowly making her way across campus with the assistance of a cane. " _I need to apologize for what happened earlier, it was my fault she lost after all."_ He would quickly make his way up to the blonde woman, reaching out to touch her shoulder in order to get her attention. "Miss Satellizer, I just wanted to-" The young man would stop upon noticing the look of surprise on her face, almost as if he had decided to do something indecent before her eyes, nearly asking her what was wrong before she pulled away from him quickly.

"Just leave me alone alright?" Satellizer would do her best to keep her voice as harsh as possible, although her mind was still racing at the fact that he had been able to touch her without feeling the disgust and rage which usually followed such an act, when monsters like Louis would try and stake his claim upon her..at least until someone had decided to step in and stop the madness. " _What makes him so different, why is he able to touch me when no one else is?"_ She would continue to ponder this even as she slowly made her way back to the dorms once again, although this time she would find her way barred by the new #1 ranked second-year Pandora who wore a smug smirk upon her face.

"Why am I not surprised to find you taking out your pitiful resentment on someone else, is it truly so hard to accept the fact that I defeated the almighty Untouchable Queen?" Ganessa's smirk would widen as she noticed the barely-restrained anger in the blonde Pandora's eye as her gaze wandered briefly wandered over to the boy in question, quickly dismissing him as she turned her attention back to the other woman. "Although if you ask me I'd say you needed to be taken down a few pegs, and judging by how warm and cuddly you were with that little boy-toy over there I'd say you'd make a much better Queen of the Kitchen!" She would let out a haughty laugh, unaware that she had crossed a line and that Satellizer was already readying herself for a fight even as Kazuya would watch on with silent worry.

Abel would make it in time to hear the beginnings of a fight out in the courtyard, others had chosen their own spots to watch the battle between two Pandora who seemed not to be pulling any punches. " _So this is what it's like to be on the spectating end of a fight on my first day as an Academy student, gotta say...it's pretty fucking boring."_ The sandy-haired young man would watch quietly as the two Pandora went at it tooth and nail, the pig-tailed woman using a set of chains with pointed ends to try and either skewer or bind her opponent who seemed to repel her assault with relative ease thanks to her own Volt Weapon. For a brief moment he could feel his heart tremble as he watched the blonde-haired Pandora battle against the chain-wielding Pandora, pieces of a puzzle seemed to slowly fall into place as the girl from his memories was slowly replaced by the woman who was now attacking as ferociously as a battle maiden from Norse Mythology.

"She has grown into quite the beautiful specimen hasn't she boy?" Parcé would quickly grip the young man's shoulder tightly, pressing her thumb against his nerves to keep him from moving any further forward and interrupting the battle that was unfolding before them. "I'd advise against that Little Abel; you would only be a hindrance to her right now, if you really want to be useful then help me gather readings on these women for me." She would ignore the hate-filled glare that she was being given and instead shift her focus back to the battle.

Satellizer had found it laughably easy to counter Ganessa's Chains of Binding, to a novice Pandora the prospect of having six chained flails pursuing them would prove to be a daunting task to defend themselves against much less repel. But she was no novice, she had already endured more hardships then the woman across from her would even begin to imagine as a brief flash of Louis's torturous late night appearances flashed through her mind. " _No, I'm not the same weak child I was back then..I'm stronger then this spoiled brat, I won't lose to her!"_ Her eyes would become cold, focused orbs of sapphire as the busty blonde Pandora once again repelled Ganessa's chains before sprinting in and delivering a few precision strikes with her own Volt Weapon, a giant mid-handled blade that she wielded effortlessly in ordered to bring the cocky rank 1 Pandora to her knees and shred a considerable portion of her uniform to boot.

"Ugh, dont you even **begin** to think that this is over!" Ganessa would grimace in pain as she slowly rose back to her feet and prepared her chains to fight again, a sadistic grin appearing across her face as a white light began to envelop her form. "PANDORA MODE, ACTIVATE!" The white light would become a torrent of energy as everyone in the immediate vicinity had to shield their eyes from its sheer brightness, even Abel would close his eyes tightly as Professor Ciel had forbidden him to move lest he compromise the integrity of her data. When the light finally faded from the area, Ganessa would be standing and ready to fight once more, her wounds were still apparent and clothing still in tatters but she had the advantage now. Something that would quickly be proven as her Chains of Binding were easily able to slip past Satellizer's Volt Weapon and ensnare the blonde Pandora up off the ground with only four chains while using the remaining two to beat her mercilessly.

"Miss Roland, Pandora Mode is explicitly for use against the Nova in a real combat situation, not in petty squabbles with your fellow Pandora!" Chiffon had been oddly quiet for most of the fight as such things happening around campus were a dime a dozen, but none of those fights had ever escalated to the point of either combatant using Pandora Mode. And as Student Council President she was pretty much responsible for their well-being as well as their adherence to the rules.

"Are you kidding? This is definitely a real combat situation for me!" Ganessa would grin gleefully as her chains had proceeded to tear Satellizer's uniform to the point where her ample breasts were exposed for all to see, relishing in her screams of pain even as she felt Chiffon's imposing glare upon her back. "Besides, she needs to be put in her place after daring to stand against her superior!" She would ready her chains to deliver a volley of strikes to her opponent's exposed bosom only to find herself face to face with the boy who had been speaking to Satellizer earlier, his arms outstretched in a vain attempt to metaphorically shield her from harm.

"Don't you think she's had enough, you've already beaten her so what's the point in doing anymore harm?" Kazuya could do nothing to match the women before him in terms of physical strength, and there wasn't exactly any staff around to break up the fight at this point so that left only an appeal to the pig-tailed Pandora's sense of honor. "You've already won!"

The raven-haired boy's statement was enough to make something inside Ganessa snap as she delivered a backhand to the young man's cheek, not caring that such a blow in Pandora mode was enough to draw blood from her victim as he fell to the floor. "You call THAT a victory?! That was hardly the battle I wanted with that stuck up bitch, if it weren't for your damn interference then I would've attained Rank 1 fair and square!" She would proceed to focus her ire on the one who had robbed her of a justified win against the Untouchable Queen and prepared to turn her chains against the unprepared transfer student.

"Don't you even think about harming that boy." Satellizer had felt something awaken inside of her upon seeing the raven-haired boy come to her defense, flashes of a past she had done her best to lock away as well along with the brief image of another boy coming to her aid in a time of crisis. "Pandora Mode, Activate!" A second burst of white light would envelop the area as the once-blonde Pandora now broke free of her restraints, easily retrieving Nova Blood from where she had dropped it and finishing the bratty Pandora off with one swift but precise attack.

 _"B-But I thought I was the only one..."_ Ganessa would crumple to the ground in silent horror, as far as she was aware, the only Second Year Pandora that was able to successfully enter Pandora Mode was herself. Yet not only had she found herself beaten in battle by the Untouchable Queen, she had also lost the sense of uniqueness that came with being the only one to attain such a power. She was so in shock that the heiress to the Roland Family Fortune was unaware that her opponent was coming in for the finishing blow. " _Damn it, it's not fair!"_

Satellizer was still seeing red as she approached the fallen Pandora, intent on ending their one-sided rivalry once and for all, stopping once she felt the familiar chill of steel against her neck.

"That's quite enough, now deactivate Pandora Mode and put away your weapon" Yu-Mi Kim, instructor to most of the incoming Pandora would hold the edge of her bladed lance firmly against the younger woman's neck while Elize did the same with one of her daggers. "You're going to the brig, using Pandora Mode on Campus is against the rules after all." Yu-Mi would scan the area around them, the crowd beginning to disperse once they had arrived, although her gaze would linger upon a certain mocha-skinned scientist and the young man accompanying her. " _Haven't seen those two around here before."_

"Their injuries don't seem to be too severe, so we don't need to worry about getting either any intensive treatment." Elize's one gaze would wander over to the young man that was now-being helped to his feet by Chiffon, who seemed content to see to his safety from then on. "Hell, it's just raining transfers today..first a scientist and her pet project and now Kazuha's younger brother."

 _ **First off, I'd like to apologize for the lateness of this chapter, after ten years of loyalty my old desktop finally said "No Mas" and went to that big junkyard in the sky, since then I've had to work off my less-than-reliable laptop and whatever computer time I can squeeze in at campus.**_

 _ **I intend to resume more steady uploads once my technical issues are resolved.**_

 _ **And the closing date for that Poll on my Profile Page, April 2nd: Wrestlemainia 33. Vote while you can dearies!**_


	4. Ballad of the Pauper II

_**Holy hell, well..my laptop doesn't suck AS BAD. But now my iPod's dead! One step forward, about two thousand backward!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I own Abel and Parcé. That's All**_

Abel would find himself pacing the borders of the bedroom that was to be his home while attending West Genetics Academy, a room that seemed very spacious and comfy when he and Parcé had first entered. Although whatever warmth that was meant to emanate from the area had ceased to be once the data-hungry woman set up her portable lab equipment and had begun comparing his previous sets of battle data against the freshly acquired readings from the skirmish between his adopted sister Satellizer and the other female Pandora from earlier that day, occasionally giving a "hm" or "ahh" as she worked.

"She was so different from before, almost as if defeating that other Pandora was the only thing that mattered to her." He would frown in thought as he recalled the little girl he used to know, very much still-sporting the same blonde locks that had she had currently (albeit shorter) and lacking the warrior madness she had displayed in battle. "Back then she just wanted to keep out of the way, especially when it came to **them**." He could feel his hand clench into a tight fist as he recalled the scowls that decorated the calm visage of Olivia L. Bridget whenever Satellizer happened to be nearby, and while she harbored nary a wisp of affection towards Abel himself even he noticed the barest hint of malefic intent when it came to their father's other daughter.

"Well what do you expect boy, it's been years since the two of you lived under the same roof and her "Growth" most assuredly isn't the only thing that's changed about her." The mocha-skinned scientist smirked as she caught the ghost of a blush decorating her little guinea pig's cheeks, truly her greatest joy was causing a reaction in the boy especially when the stimulus happened to involve the female form. "Mind your gutter thoughts Abel dear, after all we have to work with these people and I'd rather not have to be called away because of your pathetic libido." Parcé had to bite her lip to suppress the giggle that was bubbling up to the surface as his blush deepened, the reaction recalling the few instances where she'd offered the Pandora in the program certain "incentives" in exchange for sneaking into the young man's room (A feat easily accomplished as she held the Master Key to everyone's room.) as he finished his shower and surprising him as he walked in on the unexpected trespasser in varying stages of undress (how much clothing the women in question ditched was decided by just how desired the incentive in question was, after all an extra few points on an exam wasn't worth laying spread eagle on his bed right as he entered the room as much as the Professor herself putting in a good word to the Chevalier about that Pandora's good merits and usefulness to the cause.) and monitoring his reactions through the few mini-cams she had installed in his room in the unlikely event he tried to run off with her Stigmata.

"Jesus Christ Prof she may be a grown ass woman now but she's also my sister, and fine figure or not there's no way I'd think that way about her in that fashion." His gaze falling on the sapphire ring that he wore proudly which still bear slight bits of leftover blood from when he had retrieved the ring from Hana's severed finger in the last battle against the Marrakesh Academy's Pandora, growling as he attempted to clean off the blood. "That's pretty much incest last time I checked, not to mention illegal." Abel's face would morph into an angry mask as he tried to scrub away the last vestiges of Hana Inuzaka's twisted presence from his treasured possession, as if the blood specks were staining the image of Violet's smiling face and the cloth in his was his only aid to helping keep her angelic smile as pure and unblemished as he remembered it to be.

Back then Violet was one of two people who enjoyed Abel's presence within the walls of the L. Bridget manor, the other being their father Howard who was kept constantly busy due to the responsibilities that came with the position as Head of their family and thus left the less-than-amicable Olivia as his only parent. "Your father may see fit to coddle you whenever he finds time to be here, but I will give you no such luxuries. You will be expected to complete the same studies as your siblings regardless of your prior status of…vagabond." True to her word, his angered shrew of a mother would bring in tutors to begin the young man's educational studies who seemed to value pushing the boy to his absolute limits (Not unlike a certain researcher he now knew.) despite the obvious deficiencies between his current education level and what children his age should know.

"Ugh, this is too hard!" Abel would whine as he stared down at the packet of math problems that his tutor, he had breezed through these very same problems a week prior and seemed to look forward to displaying the further blossoming fruits of his intelligence to his ever-absent father. "It was simple before: This minus That Equals Other Thingy! Now there's letters, parenthesis, and something about a pie!" His stomach would growl in anticipation of a dessert that would never come even as his brain struggled to make sense of the gibberish in front of him, his thoughts constantly shifting from arithmetic to the possibility of food magically replacing his troublesome homework. "I could honestly go for a nice slice of apple pie right now."

A burst of laughter would cause him further troubles as he turned from the threat of math to face a much less imposing (though much more annoying) disturbance in the form of his adopted brother Louis, a smug smile plastered on his face as he held up a similar homework packet "It's not PIE you scruffy mongrel, it's PI! P-I! Though I doubt a vagabond like **you** would even know the difference!" The fair-haired brat had no doubt picked up on his mother's favorite way to describe Howard's second son and how insulting it seemed to an already disheartened Abel, proceeding to wave his completed packet around triumphantly while continuously degrading and mocking his so-called brother's lack of book smarts. "I bet you don't even know what a vagabond is, even though you look and smell just like one!"

"No, but I do Louis. And I'll thank you not to refer to our brother Abel in such a way." Violet would be standing in the doorway holding a small tray with a tuna sandwich and a glass of sweet tea, along with a disapproving look for her brother's behavior as his shimmering eyes briefly took on a steely gaze. "I see that you're done with your homework so go get changed into your riding clothes, you know how much Lord Alfred values punctuality in his pupils." She would spare her departing sibling a loving smile despite her eyes never losing their hardened appearance. As was her usual role, their older sister would play the role of peacekeeper between the two boys and do so without having a single metaphorical feather ruffled.

"Thanks Violet, I was honestly a few seconds from passing out thanks to all of this pi nonsense." He would say this while helping her set the serving tray down onto the table he was working at before blushing as she gently ruffled his autumn-colored hair and pulled up a seat next to him and inspected his work carefully. "I don't get it sis, why does Miss Olivia push me so hard to succeed, especially when I'm not as sharp as you or Louis?" He would sigh dejectedly as he watched the blonde-haired girl set the homework packet down and give his hand a light squeeze, taking his pencil and making a simplified version of the problem while humming a small tune as Abel continued to watch her curiously "Hey..I can understand it now!"

Violet would give her now-encouraged brother a loving smile as she watched him handle the problem with renewed gusto, glancing over at the sandwich for a bit before returning her gaze back to him "I think our mother pushes you so hard because it's what father wants for you, the L. Bridget family is known for its intelligence and strength in the business field. And despite all of Louis's blustering, you are one of us and Father believes in all of his children." She would pat his shoulder softly, gently pushing the homework packet aside and moving the tuna sandwich in its place. "Now, take a break little brother. A little brain food can go a long way in understanding that dastardly Pi."

He would chuckle quietly as he took a hearty bite out of the sandwich, as was the pattern between the two siblings: She would be the one to help him stand tall whenever the weight of his new name proved too daunting for his small shoulders, likewise he would be her ever-reliable right hand whenever it came to creepy crawlies, unnerving strangers, or something else that caused Violet discomfort. (Although later in life he would come to suspect that her reactions may have been embellished for his benefit.) It was due to her tutelage that he would grow to be more intelligent than most boys his age, and despite not quite reaching the same prestige as his siblings (and even an incoming Satellizer would eventually outshine him months after arriving to live at the manor) but it was because of her help that he eventually learned to find what he was best at: Violet had the brains, Louis was deceptively charming to the outsider, Satellizer had an unending drive to win that caused him some hesitation at the thought of one day having to face her, as for Abel himself:

His great talent was to endure the pain that the monsters inflicted, it was that talent that helped him survive the Marrakesh Academy and the merciless taunting that came from the mouths of people who had been written off by society. It was that special "talent" that gave disgraced Pandora Scientist Parcé Ciel the perfect guinea pig to create and test the first male "Pandora", although his classmates would refer to him as "freak".

He would be snapped back to reality by the chilling feel of a freshly cleaned ring back upon his finger, looking down at it with a sense of fondness as he imagined Violet smiling back at him, and looking around at his new living arrangements reminded him of his original purpose for wanting to join the ranks of West Genetics. " _Satella, I'm not sure what happened to you after that night but..I'll do my best to support you however I can."_ With a renewed sense of purpose, he would take a breath before changing out of the stuffy Marrakesh uniform and into lighter clothes in order to train on his hand-to-hand combat and leaving the mocha scientist to her thoughts.

"Foolish twit, he guards that ring with the fervor or a zealot guarding their holy scripture. Yet he fears the prospect of seeing past the visage of her as a sibling through to her merits as a woman." Parcé would quickly do an image search for "Violet L. Bridget" and give a devilish smile as she looked at the image in question: A rather lovely blonde-haired woman who wore a white blouse and dazzling red skirt, it was enough to catch the eye but not distract from the glitz and the glamour of a hotel opening in Bali. "After all it's not incest if there's no blood between you, but since sweet little Violet only disrupts you in your memories. I need to switch to a closer target to temper your abilities." She would dismiss Violet's image and pull up what little information she had managed to glean on Satellizer L. Bridget, the incident involving her tenure at East Genetics had been heavily redacted (much to her annoyance) but it was the alias that had been given to her that piqued her scientific curiosity. "Untouchable Queen eh?"

Finding herself locked up in the brig was nothing new for Satella, her last time in the brig had involved her putting an overly smug Limiter in his place through not-so subtle methods and had lost out on the entirety of her second year because of it.

" _It was worth it, he was a common leech who treated Pandora like belt notches."_ She would clench the hem of her skirt in agitation as she pictured that young man's despicable smirk as he dared to lay a hand on her, tried to sweet-talk her into taking him as her Limiter before she retaliated at his behavior and drew the ire of her superiors as well as the fears of her would-be comrades. " _I've already had to deal with that kind of scum in my life enough, I don't..I don't want to feel that kind of touch ever AGAIN!"_ Her body would tremble as her mind flashed back to the dark days of life at the L. Bridget manor, the withering stares that followed her whenever she happened to be in the room as Olivia L Bridget as well as the repulsive touch of her so-called brother Louis.

 _"You monster! You filthy pig!"_ There it was again, that same voice that seemed to pierce the darkness in which that memory belonged, followed by that familiar flash of sapphire which followed by the familiar fade to black. " _Who does that voice belong to, why did he attack Louis?"_ Satella would search her memories for anyone in the house with a sapphire ring, only to land back at that same horrible moment once again before growling in annoyance.

"Come on, search harder..this isn't something you made up. He **has** to be there somewhere!" She would continue to search her past for any sign of her long-lost defender, purposely focusing on every run-in she had with Louis while trying to ignore the waves of revulsion that permeated through her body.

Eventually she would find herself waking up to the harsh squeak of her cell door being opened, followed by the unfamiliar sight of a tall, mocha-skinned woman wearing a white lab coat and an alluring smile adorning her face.

"Satellizer L. Bridget, I presume?"

 _ **So this month has been a ball of SUCK: Dead iPod and furthered blindness. But on the plus side, i finally decided to give the Freezing manga a go...I dislike how Rana got introduced in that and will stick to the anime's interpretation of it.**_

 _ **Ta-Ta for now!**_


	5. The Visit

_**Oh dear God I'm sorry people! In between Finals and the Vacation from Hell I completely forgot to update this mother!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I only own the OC's**_

The next day would prove to be as deflating to Abel's mood as the previous night was, not even his usual hour of combat training proved to be an adequate stress reliever as his tranquility had been disrupted by the chatter of two passing Pandora.

"Isn't that the new transfer student from the Marrakesh branch?" Abel had no doubt that the rumor mill had already gone to work thanks to the brave few who dared to stick around and watch the brawl between Satellizer and the Pandora he now knew as Ganessa Roland, his former academy's red skull insignia was a blatant giveaway that screamed "Look at me, I'm different!" He's definitely an odd duck that's for sure, practicing in the dead of night like that."

"Different doesn't even begin to describe him, you know what everybody calls the Marrakesh Academy don't you" Silence would follow as he assumed that the other woman had no clue what her friend was referring to. "Ugh, you are SUCH a space case! Well, as the rumors go-"

"They call it the Devil's Nest." He would grit his teeth in silence, feeling the hollow hum of power knowing at him as he turned to face the two Pandora: One was a ginger-haired girl with a tall frame but a well-toned physique, her compatriot was an olive-skinned female with wide hips and doe eyes that seemed genuinely surprised that their conversation had been picked up on. "And I assure you both that it more than lives up to such a moniker, after all I have the scars to prove it." He would remove his gloves and show off the various cuts and burns adorning his hands, a light breeze wafting through the air brought the strange mixture of citrus and rose petals to his nose that was no doubt because of their individual perfumes. Abel watched on calmly as the Pandora's expressions shifted from intrigue to disgust before hastily making apologies and walking off back to their dorm, it wasn't the first time that the male Pandora had received such a response to showing off his wounds to outsiders like that and it most assuredly would not be the last time. " _My sister and I both bear the scars of life, but while mine only lay skin-deep…"_ He would sigh and begin his trek back to the special dorm he and the professor had been assigned to share with one another, although she would probably be less than pleased that he had forsaken sleep for the sake of training.

But it was that very training that caused him to be picked up by the professor's discerning eye in the first place, the endless hazing by his fellow Pandora is what drove him to learn to attack an enemy without mercy and at times even relishing their cries of agony.

" _I could give less of a rat's ass if I were to die fighting the Nova, my only goal has always been to look after my sisters. And since Violet's no doubt in better hands with the L Bridget family's security forces, my only true concern is Satella..especially after that fight yesterday."_ Abel couldn't help but wince as he recalled the battle between his sibling and the Pandora known as Ganessa Roland, the fact that she had easily overwhelmed the pig-tailed woman was one thing and probably should've ended things there but then the new rank one decided to kick things up and use Pandora Mode.

" _That's what the lethality of Pandora Mode is capable of, the power..the speed, and somehow Ciel thinks the crap she's put in me is supposed to keep up with all of that?"_ The rose-haired young man would sigh in frustration as he recalled just how much deadlier Ganessa became once things got heated, her weapon would be annoying but that would honestly end up being the least of his problems. He had only recently been exposed to fighting against Limiters and even then, that was on less than honorable terms, Parcé was one who preferred to harness the power of brute force in terms of an experiment being put on display even at the cost of the subject but an opponent like Ganessa was one that required finesse and strategy to handle.

Abel would return to his room to find the good professor's servers still diligently scanning the footage from the battle between Satellizer and Ganessa, sighing tiredly as the data displayed everything from heart rate and body temperature to the women's bust sizes.

"Really Parcé, do you honestly need to go that in-depth for data? If you weren't a woman I'd swear you were building up a spank bank or something." He would shake his head dejectedly while peeling off his training clothes and toss them aside in the corner, if she wasn't watching over the data personally then whatever she was doing was big.

And the last time Parcé Ciel had a big plan, he was just a weak boy that had no powers and no home.

Satellizer would watch with caution as the dark-skinned woman carefully as she glanced down at the notepad she had brought with her; the blonde-haired Pandora was already feeling annoyed after her battle with Ganessa was interrupted and now this strange woman was here peppering her with questions.

"Why do you want to know about my family, anything about the L. Bridget's could be found in public record..now please leave me, I'm still on punishment." Her voice was full of venom for the purple-haired scientist, wanting nothing more than to keep her head low and fulfill her father's wishes for her to become a Pandora and help end the threat of the Nova. However, her response seemed to elicit a smile from the older woman, who proceeded to lean back and jot down some notes.

"Indeed, there's a plethora of information on your father Howard, your Step-mother Olivia, as well as your step-siblings Louis and Violet." Parcé couldn't help but feel a giddy shiver when saying Violet's name, little Abel's dear savior and the woman who helped the young man become a semi-cultured individual before giving him a ring that he kept closer to his heart than a priest would keep the Good Book. "But there's one more isn't there, one that lays at the outskirts of your memories. Nipping at you…gnawing at you like a dog with a bone." The white-coated woman would lean back just in time to avoid a slap from the handcuffed Pandora, a Cheshire grin adorning her features as she jotted down a few more notes as she leaned back in her seat. "I'm sensing that I touched a nerve there dearie."

The bespectacled blonde was livid at the scientist's smug behavior, not only had this bitch decided to interrupt a peaceful day sitting inside her cell and reflecting on the great mysteries of the universe (which in reality meant wondering why the boy who had cost her the battle against Ganessa had ultimately come to her aid once the latter stopped fighting fair.) but was now dangling an answer to a very prevalent (and annoying) issue involving a past she worked hard to keep in the past.

"If you have something to say then spit it out, I don't have time to indulge in your fucking mind games!" Satellizer wished she was capable of summoning her Volt Weapon in that moment and forcing Nova Blood's cold steel against the egghead's throat until she squealed and gave up the answers she was looking for, unfortunately her Stigmata would be suppressed upon entering the Brig and then put into a cell.

Parcé would calmly set her notepad down and lock eyes with the angered female and relishing in the imaginary heat of the fire in her eyes before giving an icy and analytical smile. "I don't suppose you're a woman of faith are you Miss Satellizer? To be honest, I myself am partial to the story of Cain and Abel." The mocha-skinned woman would reach inside her cleavage and remove a small book wrapped in lacy cloth, sliding it over to a now slightly perplexed Satella as she tried to figure out just how crazy this woman was. "Two brothers spend their lives working to gain God's favor, while one succeeds and finds himself blessed by the man upstairs, the other is left wanting and in his rage, strikes his sibling down. Seems quite apropos given your lot in life."

With that, the scientist would stand up and quietly signal to the guards that she was through with the Untouchable Queen, even as the Pandora in question removed the cloth around the book that was left behind to find a rather worn pocket-sized version of the Bible within. A sour look crossed the blonde's face as she opened it up to where it had been conveniently dog-eared, almost bursting out in an angered fit of laughter as she began to read the first few lines of the story of Cain and Abel.

After a nice and relaxing shower followed by a half-assed breakfast that consisted of whatever snacks he had managed to steal before leaving the Devil's Nest topped off with a tall glass of tap water from the bathroom sink, Abel now stood in front of a mirror fully dressed in a Genetics uniform and bemoaning the fact that the brown hair dye he had been using up to that point was already starting to wear off as he noticed a streak of his normal rose-colored hair starting to show through.

 _"So much for trying to act like a normal boy, only a matter of time before people start calling me "Freak" again."_ He would shudder as he remembered most of the Pandora back at the Marrakesh Academy, it was the one of the kinder insults that the ladies slung his way but it was still rage-inducing nonetheless.

Before he would crack and throw his usual mirror-shattering induced fit of rage that followed having to remember how things operated in the Devil's Nest, a knock on the door would interrupt and force the still-somewhat sandy haired young man to calm down and adjust his tie before running to answer the door. "Geez, it's about time you got back Professor your data compilation's been done for about an hour now."

Abel had opened the door expecting his lab coat wearing, antagonistic keeper to come sauntering in with a satisfied smirk. Instead, it would be Ticy with a welcoming smile, and a small box of doughnuts. "T-Ticy-Senpai..I thought you were- I mean please come in." He would do his best to try and hide the slight smile that was adorning his face as she made her way inside, before going ashen as he remembered the Professor's data collection was still running. "Senpai wait!"

"Aww, what a cute screensaver! I love turtles so much!" Ticy would be all smiles as she watched a quartet of chibi-style turtles dancing along the screen that was once displaying sensitive information about Genetics Pandora, giving the male Pandora a sense of relief as he turned to face his third-year senior. "Kinda reminds me of my little guy, although I don't think Tii would be able to dance as well as these cuties." She would turn around to find Abel staring longingly at the box of doughnuts in her hands and smile mischievously, waving the box in random directions and quietly marveling at how his eyes followed the box in almost any direction before giggling as she opened the box and letting him have his fill. "I'm guessing you hadn't had a chance to have breakfast today?"

" _Not a good one."_ Abel's stomach would growl in reply to Ticy's question, causing his cheeks to flush in embarrassment as she simply smiled at his childish response before setting the box down on a nearby table. "Thank you..Ticy-Senpai." He would bow respectfully to the still-smiling woman before taking a seat and digging in voraciously with a doughnut in each hand, almost completely forgetting that he had company were it not for the fact that Ticy was calmly examining his belongings.

"I always figured that a male Pandora would be solely obsessed with fighting, but you seem so well-traveled..and well read too." Ticy would say this while examining his well-worn copy of _Bio of a Space Tyrant_ before setting it back in its proper space as she turned back to see the box of doughnuts was now empty, and the sandy-haired young man calmly wiping away the remains from his lips with a satisfied sigh.

"I'm glad to see that my little welcoming present didn't go to waste, ready to go meet the rest of your fellow classmates?" She would place her hands behind her back and watch as he disposed of the empty container and took a moment to compose himself before turning to face her with a slight smile.

"Let's do it."

Kazuya would still be processing the various traits of being a Limiter, as well as what happened to Satellizer L Bridget and her opponent Ganessa Roland as he showered and dressed for the day. "A Pandora chooses their Limiter, and it's always someone younger in order to create something called an Ereinbar Set which helps a Pandora in battle." The raven-haired young man would furrow his brow in thought, his sister Kazuha was indeed a Pandora but he had never seen hide nor hair of her Limiter

"I wonder if she just didn't want to bring the battle home with her, maybe that's why he stayed away." Kazuya would sigh and wonder just how close Pandora (or "Big Sisters" as Arthur referred to them) were to their Limiters, was it strictly a professional relationship or did it ever go beyond that?

"Hey Kazuya! Hurry up or we're gonna be late!" Arthur would say after giving a few knocks on his door, judging by the volume of said knocks he had been at this quite a bit now, giving Kazuya a reason to chuckle as he finished straightening his tie before grabbing the rest of his belongings and opening the door to head out.

"Geez, I thought you were some kind of a heavy sleeper or something." The fair-haired young man would give a cocky grin as the two began to walk side by side together, spending most of their time making idle chitchat in-between Arthur giving helpful hints about life at the Academy. "Trust me, you're gonna be fine man."

The raven-haired Limiter-to-be would smile politely even as his mind was still wondering just what the relationship was between Kazuha and her Limiter, and judging by how much that Arthur tended to bring up his own "Big Sister" during their walk to the main building, he seemed to show real adoration for her.

"Umm Arthur, there's something I wanna ask you when it comes to you and Ganessa-" Before Kazuya could elaborate any further on what he wanted to ask, the blonde Limiter would let out a hearty laugh before placing a hand on the startled young man's shoulder.

"Haha, I don't blame you for being interested Kazuya. My Big Sister is quite the looker and a total badass on the battlefield, but believe me when I say she won't take just any guy in her life." Arthur would smile wistfully as he seemingly reflected on the past before remembering that his companion wasn't exactly a mind-reader and gave another winning smile. "I had to go through a lot to gain Ganessa's blessing to become a Limiter, I mean we met in the middle of a black out for crying out loud and it didn't help that another Pandora was running around playing a prank with a hologram at the time."

Kazuya would just blink in surprise as Arthur began recounting the story of how he met his Pandora as they continued to make their way to class.

Meanwhile, Abel and Ticy would be getting off the transport bus a-ways behind the pair of Limiters although in a more of a rush then the two young men ahead of them.

"Abel; while I appreciate you taking an interest in Tii and I'm happy that the two of you are starting to get along, maybe next time we can wait until **after** classes to spend time together?" Ticy would look over to see a huge grin of amusement on the male Pandora's face as his eyes were darting from one place to another before looking back over at her.

"Man, oh man I can't believe they make Academies this big, definitely beats the piss outta Marrakesh!" He would begin pulling ahead of an exasperated Ticy in a need to see more of not only the place he would call home for a time, but also the place that would allow him to reunite with the sister he was forced to leave behind. Unfortunately, in all of his wonderment Abel would fail to notice that he was running headfirst into a group of individuals also making their way into the building. He would look up to find himself looking up at a rather shapely Pandora flanked by a group of Limiters of varying appearances, though they would all carry the same look of annoyance as they dragged the new arrival to his feet.

"Who the fuck do you think you are, bumping into Miyabi-Senpai like that? Don't you even know how big of a mistake you've made maggot!?" One of the Limiters would bark at him while his two comrades held him by his arms, a punch about to be thrown when their Pandora cleared her throat loudly enough to get their attention.

"Now now boys..this one's clearly a newcomer. I mean look at him, he's shaking like a leaf." The woman known as Miyabi would look down at Abel with a hungry look in her eyes, gently touching his cheek in a manner similar to a judge appraising a prize pig. "You're no ordinary Limiter are you little boy, there's a wildness about you that I'd just love to **break**. Unfortunately for you, I already have other interests to attend to." The blue-haired Pandora would wave her hand dismissively as the Limiter from earlier would pop his knuckles with a sadistic grin as he got ready to start throwing a punch once more.

"Stop right there!" Ticy's voice would be the one to interrupt things this time, the Limiter was livid enough to land one shot to Abel's gut before he and his cohorts turned and began running to catch up to their Senpai. Ticy would kneel and look at the somewhat pained male with a look of concern before helping him stand up once again. "I'm surprised you didn't fight back, I know that you put up with a lot back in the Devil's Nest." She would go quiet upon noticing the rose-colored streak in his hair, remembering from the few notes that the good Professor had left access to in his personal file that certain aspects of his physical body had been altered, with his rose-colored hair being the most obvious of them.

"Yeah, I put up with a lot of grief in that hellhole, but that's because I had to Senpai. I was the reject among a whole Academy of rejected Pandora and Limiters. All of them fighting tooth and nail for a shot to return to whatever establishment gave them Das Boot in the first place!" Abel grit his teeth angrily as he remembered how his nemesis Hana would constantly gloat about beating him in order to return to West Genetics, yet he was now standing in the very establishment she had taken for granted and far from enjoying the air of freedom and the opportunity to meet new people and build fresh relationships, he was still focused on finding Satellizer and resuming his place in her shadow. "And yes I could've murdered those three assclowns and gone on with my morning, but that would just be proving that those bastards were right and I'm some kind of freak. Not to mention that Parcé would finally have the monster she's been soaking her panties over for the **longest time!** "

He would spare one final glance at the ring on his finger and close his eyes as memories of Violet played on in his mind before opening them quickly and meeting eyes with an ever sympathetic Ticy before deciding to continue walking to class in silence, the familiar tug of power would gnaw at the back of his mind like a beast fighting to break free of the chains binding it in captivity.

 _ **Anybody else getting an OCxTicy vibe or is it just me? Yes, I know she has an Abel in her life already, and to address the bit about how Arthur met Ganessa, that was just a piece of information from a collection of side-stories in the Freezing canon (at least the Manga iteration) called Freezing: Pair Love Stories (not sure if these got released stateside)**_

 _ **I'll try and get the next chapter up quicker, I apologize for the wait and those following (old AND new) thank you so much, you all make this worth the late-night back pain.**_

 _ **Ta-Ta for now!**_


	6. First Day Jitters

_**I promised you that I'd get the next chapter out quickly and damn semi-suicidal thoughts be damned I delivered!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Once again, I only take ownership of the OC's**_

Kazuya would be the only one making it to class that day as Arthur had opted to spend the time tending to Ganessa, meaning that there wouldn't be one familiar face in the crowd when he gave the usual first day of class introductions.

At least that would've been the case were it not for the fact that there was a second individual behind him who seemed to be grumbling to himself, stopping once he noticed Kazuya's gaze before giving a slight smile in return.

"I guess you have the first-day jitters too?" The raven-haired Limiter would give his fellow Limiter the once over: he was slightly taller than Kazuya by at least a couple of inches, sandy brown hair that would normally prove unremarkable were it not for the sudden streak of rose-pink. His uniform was of a similar cut to Kazuya's own with the exception of the devil insignia on the right side where the Academy symbol should be, but perhaps the most defining feature of his person would be the scar running over his left eye that seemed to radiate an anger all its own despite the other man's ghost of a smile.

"Buddy, you've got no idea how much of an understatement that is." The sandy-haired young man would give a bit of a sigh before lowering his voice a bit before speaking again, a look of trepidation crossing the young man's face. "To be honest, I really hate doing these formal introductions..it's so embarrassing."

The sudden clearing of a throat would interrupt any further conversation that might have gone down between the two young men, while Kazuya seemed to jump slightly at the sudden noise, Abel would instead snap to immediate attention, albeit with a very guarded and semi-feral look in his eyes as his fist clenched and unclenched.

Yu-Mi Kim would be familiar with such a look based on her time spent in the battlefield, those who lived in or around battle long enough knew it to be the one of the many signs of mental fatigue. And according to what little data that Elise had managed to glean from her attempted hack of Ciel's files of the young man, that was the tip of the iceberg when it came to the young prospect.

"Gentleman, perhaps you'd like to share your conversation with the rest of us in the class? After all, this is our first time meeting you both."

Kazuya would rub the back of his head nervously before stepping forward and giving the most winning smile that he could muster as he surveyed the crowd, all of them would be inspecting him very shrewdly like a fancy item on an auction block.

"Umm, hello everyone. My name's Kazuya Aoi, it's nice to meet you all..hope we can all work together out there." Kazuya would smile and step back as Yu-Mi directed to his seat as the class broke out into small murmurs, most of the gossip coming from the Pandora in the room who were no doubt scheming how to make him theirs.

"Settle down everyone; Mr. Aoi isn't the only one joining us for the first time today, I'm sure you've heard about the rumored transfer from the Marrakesh Branch and are just so full questions for our friend." The well-endowed instructor would gesture to the lone-student that was hanging out against the wall while Kazuya had been making his introductions, now looking less than thrilled at the fact that he was now being forced into the limelight as he returned her gesture with a sour look before relenting and stepping forward. "Now then, please introduce yourself for the class."

"Good morning everyone, my name is Abel Reinhardt. Now I could stand here and parrot the words of Kazuya back there and say that it would be an honor to fight alongside you. But to be perfectly honest, I'd be eternally grateful if we'd rather not get too attached, it's better for all of us that way." He would bow respectfully to them all, even as many people's faces were exhibiting varying levels of confusion and contempt as he made his way to the only empty seat in the back and calmly taking his seat despite the mood in the room suddenly becoming one of intense hostility all directed at him.

"Reinhardt, are you sure you don't have anything else to add?" Yu-Mi had anticipated his scathing look as the veteran Pandora delivered her own steely-eyed gaze in return, she had seen her fair share of students pass through her classroom in her tenure: Pandora whose status had gone to their head and tried to flout the rules because of it, Limiters who tried to sweet talk their way either into better grades or a good word from her to their prospective future partner. "Something else besides your overly blatant wish to remain in isolation from your fellow classmates?"

Abel would feel his jaw clench at her prodding at him to stand up and reveal his true nature, she may as well be asking him to get in front of the class and start juggling chainsaws with her withering stare. But unlike him, she had fought the Nova, probably watched good friends die in the process, who was he to ignore the request of someone who had survived the closest thing to Hell on Earth?

"As a matter of fact, professor, I did indeed leave out something very crucial to my introduction earlier." He would stand up and make his way back to the front of the class without batting an eyelash at the heated glares that were being cast in his general direction even as he began unbuttoning the white dress shirt with each successive step. "It actually goes part and parcel with my earlier statement as to why I insist upon keeping distance with you fine men and ladies, it should also cement that I'm not just some lucky schmuck who happened to survive a tour inside the Devil's Nest." The convenient use of the unofficial name for the Marrakesh branch of Genetics was enough to start the classroom murmurs anew, although this batch would carry an audible sense of foreboding that seemed to buzz and swell like a freshly disturbed hornet's nest.

Only when the buzzing seemed to reach its zenith did he finally let the dress shirt slip off of his person, revealing to the class the cluster of pulsing Stigmata adorning his shoulder blades, causing the murmuring to die down from its earlier excitement.

"So, you're a Limiter who's already got a partner, whoop-de-doo!" A brash faced young man would be tossing a ball from one hand to the other, before giving an exaggerated yawn and tossing it toward the back of Abel's head. "This is for trying to rub it in our fucking faces rookie!"

"Volt Weapon, deploy." Abel would duck and slice the ball in half before it could hit the wall in front of him with a dejected sigh, the weight of his scythe Sangré Rose was the death knell in his hope for any kind of normalcy when it came to a social life as the murmurs became a mixture of gasps and hurried exclamations of shock. "For years you've been told that only women had the abilities to go toe-to-toe with the Nova, and even then, only with the support of a Limiter who they've established an Ereinbar Set with." He would dispel his weapon without even bothering to blink before turning to face the gallery of stunned and confused faces, his expression now one of self-deprecation as he sighed, the boy he had met earlier that day was now just as shocked as the rest. "And until a couple years ago, that was a truth cemented in stone. Then like all good sci-fi stories..it all got ruined when a mad scientist showed up."

Parcé would sneeze suddenly as she was waiting outside the entrance to the brig as she awaited the release of her new favorite Pandora, mostly because she knew that in the long run it would wind up her Abel and convince him to fight harder and advance her overall projected data, but she also wanted her bible back.

"Ahh, I'm glad to see that you rather enjoyed my little story dear Satellizer. Could it be perhaps that it cleared some of the cobwebs from your addled mind, perhaps filled in some much-needed blanks?" The white-coat wearing woman would smile impishly as the fair-haired Pandora walked past her, shoving the weathered Bible back into the scientist's waiting hand as the latter gave a slight purr of agreement as the Untouchable Queen walked towards the main building.

"She's so primal, it's almost sad that Little Abel wastes his focus on such an animal. But, I suppose every Beast needs his Bitch." The mocha-skinned woman couldn't help but cackle at her own quip as she made her way back to the living quarters she shared with her current pet project, damn near ecstatic that all ecstatic that all the pieces in her little game were behaving exactly as she predicted.

But her elation would be short lived as her computer screen flashed brightly as the words "Unauthorized Access" was being displayed prominently as she bolted over to the keyboard and began inputting commands as fast as she could, her heart racing faster as she tried to discover just who would dare try to break into her files as well as what they were after.

And then she would make them suffer for it.

Meanwhile Abel would find himself sitting across from Yu-Mi as he glanced down at the plates lining their shared table with a raised eyebrow of skepticism, leaning down to sniff the food curiously before sticking a fork in one of the Chinese dumplings and taking a cautionary bite as the instructor watched him.

"Something wrong with the food Reinhardt, if I didn't know any better I'd think you were suspecting some sort of foul play on our part." She would give a slight smirk as the sandy-haired young man swallowed the food before locking eyes with her once again, a lock of relief crossing his face. "I take it that the fare here outshines your fare over at the Devil's Nest?"

The sandy-haired young man would give a grateful smile as he dug in with a little less restraint, wiping his mouth before deciding to answer her outright. "It's like night and day to be honest, and it sure as hell doesn't taste like it's been spiked with..unique ingredients." He would watch as her eyes sharpened out of semi-maternal concern, it was a look that he associated with three women over the course of his life.

And two of them deserved to burn in Hell while the third deserved to be knighted, canonized, and given a comically large cookie for all the good she'd done for people.

"I appreciate your concern Yu-Mi senpai, but a lot of complaints have tried to make it past the Nest's walls and nothing goes out until people like Professor Parcé get to do some creative editing beforehand." He would continue to eat even as he felt her probing gaze washing over him, it wasn't a foreign feeling considering that many of his instructors had done the same during his time inside Marrakesh and one of the myriad of reasons that a normal social life would continue to elude him here as well. "And speaking of the Professor, you might want to keep your distance when it comes to her. She may act like an eccentric egghead on the surface but if you rattle her cage enough, the Hyde behind the Jekyll will make itself known."

This would pique the veteran Pandora's interests as Elize had given Yu-Mi the story behind her own run-in with this supposedly two-faced egomaniac during Reinhardt's physical the day before, besides the extensive use of colorful language when describing the good Professor's mental faculties (or lack thereof) she seemed particularly concerned of just **how** the madwoman managed to instill a male with the abilities of a Pandora without the poor guy going mad in the process.

"Miss Yu-Mi!" Ticy would open the door into the room, panting as if she had spent a good deal of time running just to get there. She would spare a slight moment of shock at the sight of Abel being there as well before remembering the very real emergency that she had left behind back on the roof of the academy. "There's a problem up on the roof, Satellizer..she's in a fight with Miyabi-senpai! It's going badly!"

While both individuals would rise from their seats relatively quickly, the male Pandora would bolt out of the room like the devil was nipping at his heels despite the separate shouts from Instructor Kim to stop while Ticy pleaded for him to wait for her to join him.

" _Forgive me Senpai, but I have to protect my sister!"_ Flashes of that horrible night would echo through his mind as he felt the weight of his scythe materializing in his hands, responding to the young man's frantic plea to help him accomplish his self-imposed mission. " _Satella, I failed you in the past. But God help me I refuse to let that happen again!"_

Satellizer would stand triumphantly over the battered bodies of Miyabi's Limiters who were responsible for helping their Pandora humiliate her as well as molest her person, the blonde-haired Pandora would give a shudder of disgust as she looked down at the woman responsible for her agony.

"Pl-Please forgive me..I'll never bother you again." Miyabi would cough up blood as she struggled to remain conscious through the combination of intense pain and shock, looking up into the eyes of her junior and seeing only cold, sapphire orbs devoid of mercy as the Untouchable Queen raised her weapon in preparation for the killing blow. However, before the blade could find its target, a scythe would appear and create a shower of sparks as metal met metal.

 _"Why does a Limiter have a Volt Weapon?"_ Satellizer would look down at the young man holding it and thinking very little of the nuisance that was keeping her from avenging the humiliation that she had already suffered at the hands of the Limiter Eater and her cronies, but this would change upon seeing the glint of sunlight from the sapphire ring on his right ring finger. "Who are you, why do you have that ring?!" The Untouchable Queen would knock the scythe-wielder aside and using an Acceleration Turn to press the advantage she had by crushing him against the metal fence. "ANSWER ME!"

Her opponent would stay silent despite the pained expression on his visage, although the look in his honey-colored eyes would be one of sorrow as he fought back just enough to keep from letting her cut anything vital.

"I-I want to tell you, Satella! I wish I could tell you everything that happened when I was sent away but I-" His voice would become unintelligible as his throat was slit by her Nova Blood, the female Pandora seething angrily as she forcibly removed the ring from his finger before breaking it out of spite.

"You don't have the right to call me by that name, nor do you deserve to wear this ring! This belongs to..the one who saved me from that Hell!" Satellizer would raise her weapon to put an end to the supposed thief and return her focus to Miyabi, still seething from the woman's previous actions.

"That's enough Satellizer! Put away your weapon and back away now!" Yu-Mi would level her bladed lance at the belligerent young woman, smelling the familiar scent of iron that came from s bloody battlefield. "Now you've really stepped into it, do you have any idea what you've done?!"

"Abel!" Ticy would finally make her way up to the roof after having found Elize and explained the situation as best she could, but even The Silent Thief could not have anticipated the horror of what awaited her as she found her friend laying in a pool of his own blood that was slowly growing larger. "Miss Elize, hurry!"

"Goddammit kid, why'd you have to go charging in by yourself!" The verdant-haired woman's voice would be drowned out by Yu-Mi barking out orders to the still-stunned Ticy as well as the newly arrived Chiffon to escort Kazuya to safety and restrain Satellizer respectively and while the Smiling Monster had expected more of a fight from the usually stubborn second year, she would find that instead that the Untouchable Queen had gone pale for reasons she couldn't understand.

 _ **I'm really debating whether or not to give Ticy proper billing when it comes to this fic, I had originally planned for Rana to take Ticy's role when it comes to standing with Abel but the more I read about Ticy the more interested I get in expanding her role in this story**_

 _ **There's also the connection between Abel and Violet, Yes she's his older sibling and in a sense raised him from a frightened child into a cultured young man, before he had been sent down to Marrakesh where Parcé pretty much tainted that.**_

 _ **A similar issue also comes up with Abel and Satellizer, which will be explained in the following chapter. That's right folks, it's another Ballad chapter.**_

 _ **I'll put up a poll in the meantime, it goes against site rules to have y'all vote via reviews so i'll leave that up til 8/22.**_

 _ **Ta-Ta for now!**_


	7. Ballad of the Pauper III

**_Explanations for my tardiness at the end!_**

 _ **I only own Abel and Parcé, everyone else belongs to their respective owners.**_

It's said that in any near-death experience one's life flashes before their eyes, a montage of scenes that show what made someone who they are as a person and their overall contributions to society.

But as Abel Reinhardt felt the precious lifeblood leave his body due to his adopted sibling's weapon he saw no such montage, only the slowly encroaching darkness could be seen and for a moment he thought he heard someone calling his name.

In the past, there wasn't much Abel wouldn't do for his sister Violet, and while that held true in terms of studying his lessons, staying in good physical shape, being well-read, and even taking up the piano in an attempt to compliment the rare occasion on which she was asked to sing during one of Howard and Olivia's various dinner parties. (although any other time meant that the matriarch would treat him like any other two-bit piano man, even leaving out a tip jar for the guests to pitch in some money whenever the whim struck them. It never did, but Violet always made sure to sneak a bit of money in just to keep the boy's spirits up.)

However, when it came to having to dress like a proper young man..there were always some issues.

"I won't do it!" Abel would look dismissively as the bow tie that Violet had laid out for him, he had taken to making origami paper creatures, although instead of making the traditional crane like most folks would, he instead focused on creatures of myth such as his current project: the mischievous fox-spirit known as the kitsune. "Vi, you know I'm more than happy to dress up in that confounded penguin suit of a tuxedo for you, I'm thrilled to learn how to tickle the ivory keys whenever you decide to sing at one of those **dreadful** dinner parties." He would shudder as he pictured the obnoxious tip jar that was always nearby whenever he played as he finished carefully folding the tail of his origami creature, sparing a second glance at the bow tie before shaking his head in distaste. "Why are we even dressing up anyhow sis, is father coming back from his business trip early?" His honey-colored eyes would shimmer with hope at the prospect of finally being able to spend more time with the mostly-absent patriarch, only for that hope to be dashed as the shimmer left his sibling's eyes causing the younger man to swat his paper fox spirit aside.

Violet would bite her lip hesitantly as she wondered if he needed to know the truth of the situation, although she was the oldest of Howard's children, the older woman could empathize with his growing anger toward the man. " _He's already at his limit in terms of our father's constantly promising him that they'll spend time together the next time he's home, a boy should never lose faith in their father."_ She would place a hand on Abel's shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze in a vain attempt to comfort the frustrated young man, not surprised when he brushed it aside before turning away. "Abel..how about the two of us hang out together? We can check out the book stores, try all kinds of new foods, we can just have a barrel of fun!"

He would notice the glistening in her eyes even as her body language seemed to radiate one of tension, as if there was something she didn't quite wanna voice about this particular day. It wasn't every day that he was asked to dress in his finer vestments and make his way down to the main hall, as the "unwanted" child in the L. Bridget line he would be conveniently called away to complete some arbitrary set of tasks that would be better left to the house staff (A good majority of which had long since ceased being surprised at his sudden appearances alongside them.) while the family were often involved in PR-related photo shoots, dining events, and other things that would bring prestige to their father and most importantly-their company.

And with Olivia often being the one leading the show, she would do everything in her power to keep Howard's little "act of charity" out of the picture. On some level, he despised the woman for sweeping him into the shadows when it came to the public eye, but it was because of this sleight that Violet often would go above and beyond to make up for this by taking him out to see the sights and spend time with each other.

"Be honest sis, what's going on? Is Olivia planning some sort of big get-together again and need me to handle the finger foods again, I promise to try and not eat any of them this time!" Abel would grin sheepishly as he remembered picking Hors d'oeuvres from the platters that he was supposed to be serving to the guests, the chefs were none too pleased with his behavior either as the boy learned two very important lesson that night: The first was that being a dishwasher was more marathon then monotony and that they deserved much more respect than he would usually give a person in their station. The second lesson was that the Head Chef had very little tolerance for a mooch, and proceeded to tell him such: In at least three different languages, with what he assumed were curse words being sprinkled throughout. "I mean, I didn't eat any of the finger foods." Abel would look to his older sibling expecting some sort of reprimand for his actions, but as he looked at the older blonde he would see no such urge to give any sort of tongue-lashing, instead her eyes would radiate a deep sadness that put him on edge.

" _I can't lie to him about this, he's been kept in the dark enough as it is with matters concerning Father and deserves to know just what is about to change within our household."_ Violet would sigh and mentally compose herself before gently placing a hand on his shoulder and giving it a squeeze, watching as his anger seemed to dampen and he leaned into her touch instinctively. "Abel, do you remember the first day father brought you home to stay with us before eventually adopting you later?" She would watch as his honey-colored eyes shimmered with warmth, no doubt remembering the joyous day in question, not even the heaviest of Olivia's glares could dampen his spirits. "Well, how would you feel if we had another sibling around to join in on our future trips together?" The older woman would carefully watch the warmth in his eyes dim as his mind no doubt contemplating what that would mean for them, his expression settling into a whimsical smile.

"It'd be nice to finally have a brother that doesn't make me wanna bash my head against the wall, or do whatever a curb stomp is." The young man had meant for that last be to be in jest, but judging by the withering stare that was being thrown in his direction, it was obvious that said joke wasn't about to fly. "But in all seriousness, I'm glad that Father is showing kindness to another child and adopting once again." Abel would sigh calmly as he was once again reminded that despite their father's continued absence, he was a kind man who used his time away from his family to better not only the business world, but also the world of another individual.

"Abel, Father's not adopting another child..this girl is a blood relative, father's biological daughter." Violet would remain quiet as she watched her younger sibling's face as he digested the weight of what she was saying: first there was shock, no doubt at the prospect of Howard conceiving another child when he seemed to be happy with the family he had. Then his expression would become one of sadness, wondering if he was really doing his best as a son despite not quite being as sharp-witted as their brother Louis. And then she saw it: Rage. Indignation and disbelief at feeling ignored in favor of their sister.

"I understand that there's probably a lot of questions you want to ask about her, but she'll be here soon so you can ask her yourself when she arrives." Violet would give her younger brother a bright and hopeful smile as she held out the chocolate brown blazer that she had bought for him on a whim, making sure to keep the dreaded bow tie out of his line of sight. "Now let's do as our father would and put our best foot forward and welcome our new sister into our home."

In the present, Parcé would be livid at having to be called into the infirmary as she had been planning to spend the day scouring student records for certain Pandora who would rattle her boy's cage. Ganessa Roland had already proven herself a viable candidate just by attacking Satellizer on their first day at Genetics. The scientist had acted quickly in restraining his temper and forcing him to watch the battle instead of interfering, ensuring that whenever they clashed further down the line in their tenure that he would attack her without remorse like an uncaged beast.

"What did that idiot get himself wrapped up in now, some tartlet try to pick a fight with him?" The mocha-skinned woman would find herself face to face with an exasperated Elize, her lab coat dotted with blotches of blood despite the overly sterile environment that came with the job. "I see that he wasted no time in dispatching his opponent, so why aren't I dealing with the fine folks down at the Brig?"

Elize would do her best to hide the disgust that she felt at the woman's flippant attitude, sure there were certain Pandora who spent a good deal of time acting catty towards each other for some reason or another, and sometimes it would result in a bit of a scrap between the two ladies in question, at the end of the day they were all on the same side of the war against the Nova.

"This is **his** blood, blood that was spilled in the defense of an upperclassman against her fellow Pandora. He wasn't picking a fight like some two-bit punk in a schoolyard, despite how you'd like to see him as some rabid dog on a chain, he's still very much a teenage boy with a heart and soul!"

Parcé would roll her eyes at the good doctor's impassioned outburst toward her student, she knew damn well that Abel still very much had his humanity and did her best to psychologically beat it out of him at every available opportunity. "Spare me the theatrics Doctor Schitz, where the hell is my Pandora?" The violet-haired woman would scan the waiting area, finding nothing but Pandora who were sporting minor injuries, those sporting various gifts for injured friends, and the occasional worried individual. Including the Pandora who had so graciously accompanied them on their helicopter ride to the prestigious academy. "Ah Miss Phenyl, I don't suppose you have the answers that I need."

Elize would grab the mocha-skinned woman's arm, spinning her back around to face the beleaguered doctor who seemed less than pleased to be ignored in favor of an obviously worried Pandora. "All of our traditional treatments to coax Reinhardt's stigmata into healing his injuries are proving to be..ineffective. We figured since you were the one who developed his unique Stigmata that you would have a solution to this situation." She hated the fact that she was forced to go to the cold-hearted scientist for help, but since the alternative was to let a student die on her watch where medical treatment was literally at her fingertips. "I understand that we aren't exactly on the most cordial of terms now professor, but I doubt that even a scientist of your caliber would let a perfectly good research specimen die to spite a colleague."

Parcé would now be the one attempting to mask her contempt as Elize dared to consider herself an equal to her own superior intellect, moreover the bitch had the nerve to try to play on her merits as a scientist to save the young man's life. " _So, this is the little rat who dared to try and steal information on my life's hard work!"_ She would sigh tiredly at the prospect of having to cater to the staff of West Genetics when back in Marrakesh, she was queen of the castle and the one doling out orders to the weak-minded fools who occupied the same air space as herself.

"Where do I go to scrub up?"

Abel could barely keep still as the house staff graciously welcomed not only his new sibling but also the woman he assumed to be her mother into their new home, not because he was excited at the prospect of having a younger sibling who might be nicer then Louis, but rather at the suffocative atmosphere that fell upon a room whenever Olivia occupied it.

" _Doing it for Violet. I'm..doing this for Violet!"_ The anxious young man would force himself to look up from the carpeted floor and at the two latest targets of Olivia L. Bridget's ire: The older woman was a brunette who radiated a quiet calm despite the venomous words being slung at her, there were traces of a beauty that had been worn away by an outside force unknown to him. However, his curiosity would mainly be drawn to the younger girl clutching her hand: long blonde hair that no doubt resembled a shimmering pool of gold whenever the sun shone down upon it, cool blue eyes that had seen things and places that he had probably only read about, and trepidation at not only stepping foot inside the manor for the first time, but also having to stare down the frightening dragon-turned-woman that was Olivia L. Bridget.

"Abel, come along and meet Miss Alongrutch with us." Violet's voice would snap him back to reality, even as Louis seemed less than pleased to have to accompany the pair as they made their way downstairs. He would once again remind himself that he was doing this mostly for his older sister's benefit, even as the anxiety from earlier was returning with a vengeance as they neared the still exasperated woman who was now doing her best to calm her own nervous daughter. "I apologize for my mother's actions toward you Miss Alongrutch, my name is Violet L. Bridget. As the eldest daughter of Howard L. Bridget, it is my honor to welcome you into our home."

Abel would watch on with a proud smile as Violet made nice with the woman he would eventually learn was his father's mistress, even as Louis seemed to bristle with agitation as the exchange of pleasantries continued.

"And what's your name little one?" Violet would give a radiant smile towards the younger girl who was clearly nervous thanks to their mother's artic reception, even as one brother was clearly trying to pull away from her while the other was squeezing her hand out of anxiety.

"M-my name is Satellizer..Alongrutch." The young girl was clearly doing her best to give a proper introduction despite the remnants of the tense atmosphere in the room refusing to give way, her eyes darting from the kind-hearted Violet to the two boys standing on either side of her. "I'm nine years old, and it's..nice to meet you."

Abel could see that she was just as nervous as he was, taking a small breath and forcing the butterflies in his stomach to be still and give a kind smile to the older woman, who returned it with a similar one.

"That thing is not my sister!" Louis would indignantly point a finger at the now-frightened Satellizer before breaking free from his sister's grip and bolting upstairs to his doting mother even as Violet gave chase, leaving Abel alone with the two new arrivals.

"Umm, sorry about Louis..he's..not,," The young man would shake his head in frustration as he tried to be as dignified as his older sibling, but was failing due to his own inelegance with public speaking. "M-my name's Abel, it's really nice to meet you Miss Noelle. Satellizer." His cheeks would turn a shade of red as he locked eyes with the younger blonde as he held out his hand, not blaming the younger girl when she once again hid behind her mother.

"Well aren't you a polite young man, I don't remember Howard mentioning that he had a second son." Noelle would miss the look of sadness crossing the young man's face as she looked off into the distance, reminiscing of her lover and the father of her child who no doubt was the driving force behind the boy's good nature. "Then again, Howard was always hopelessly forgetful when it came to certain things. Honestly, that man would forget his own head if it wasn't for his neck." The brunette would shake her head slightly as she seemingly remembered a similar occasion and laughed quietly to herself as the staff quietly milled about, a couple of men would calmly take their bags leaving the three of them to try and carry on the conversation.

"I'm sure that my father was simply just too overworked to mention me at the time, he is running a large corporation after all." Abel would do his best to keep a sunny disposition despite feeling slighted at being left out of Howard's recollection, it was something he expected from Olivia as she had no inclination to acknowledge his existence outside of menial tasks and piano performances. "Come on, I guess it's up to me to escort you ladies to your room."

Parcé would be surrounded by other surgeons as she carefully examined Abel's unconscious form as she monitored the bio-metric readouts as she watched the clear fluids from the Stim Packs she had taken with her from Marrakesh slowly make its way into the pulsing Stigmata, his brainwaves showing signs similar to dreaming as she felt the sweat beading on her forehead starting to fall. "Wipe." The violet-haired scientist would calmly watch as the readings continued to display normal readings, her brow furrowed in confusion as the healing process still had yet to begin. "Another five minutes and we move to electroshock stimulation."

Elize, who had been monitoring the stigmata themselves rather than the numbers flowing across the data screen would balk at this suggestion, but remain silent as she made a mental note to question the young man himself when he regained consciousness.

Barring any sort of interference from the mad genius standing beside her, even as she remembered the worried Pandora who had rushed into the infirmary beside her. " _I suppose I really should let Ticy know when he's stable, especially since it seems that she's his only friend. No doubt due to this sociopath's dealings."_ She was usually above such petty thoughts following her own time as a student, but this wasn't some asinine contest over feminine superiority against her fellow Pandora. " _He looks so peaceful, almost as if he doesn't have a care in the world."_

The whine of a defibrillator being charged would interrupt any further train of that as Elize looked to see one of the assistant's handing the charged up shock pads to the lavender-haired scientist, a look of cold resolve in her eyes.

"I thought you were going to give the stim packs more time, it's only been a minute Ciel!" She could feel another one of the assistants wiping down her own brow as Parcé made to begin the process, despite most of the staff being way too close for her comfort. "Everybody get back!"

The tortured cries of anguish would echo off the walls of the operating room as electricity would course through the now throbbing Stigmata as they turned an angry red color before slowly easing their way into a more aesthetically pleasing rose color, the various screens made to monitor his vitals all seemed to register rapid improvement which brought a smile to the cold-hearted scientist as she returned the shock pads to their proper resting place.

"There, all he needs now is some proper bed rest and he'll be combat ready once more." Parcé would turn to face Elize with a smug expression upon her face, ignoring the various looks of shock and indignation that decorated the faces of the various medical personnel as she began to make her exit. "All my boy needs is a little jump to get the engine running again." With one last look towards her perceived rival in the field of Pandora-related medical knowledge she would leave the room with a feeling of tension, and Elize with the beginnings of a migraine headache.

Abel would be busy working outside with the rest of the staff in the garden, hardly minding the weight of the muddy gloves on his hands as he helped plant another row of white roses in preparation for yet another one of Olivia's generous garden parties. " _At least I'm getting some fresh air instead of being cooped up inside of the house with another study guide, although if I get roped into being Piano Boy again..."_ He would shudder as the thought of having to wear a fancy suit on what was expected to be a sunny day, those study guides suddenly feeling like a more welcome safe haven when compared to the alternative.

"Take a break lad, Miss Violet would be mighty cross with us if you were to end up shriveling out here like prune." The head caretaker was a stocky man with tanned skin, despite acting like a silent and subservient soul he was known to be a boisterous drinker and well-versed in many a lewd ballad involving jilted lovers. "Bit of advice lad, it's not the Olivia's of the world that ye should be wary of. It's the soft-hearted ones that bare the cruelest of fangs, your Violet's of the world..they still see the beauty in things that most adults only view as rusted husks."

The sandy-haired young man would blink and stare up at the older gardener, trying to puzzle through what he was saying before standing up slowly. "Is that why she's always so nice to me..because I have Beauty?" His words would cause the older man to laugh loudly even as he patted the younger man on his shoulder, causing him to become even more perplexed. "What, that's it right? It's because I'm pretty isn't it?" The others would laugh harder as the young man tossed his gloves aside and made his way back inside the house, stomping in frustration before removing the heavy work boots and setting them aside. "Adults think everything is a big joke, I could've kept working if I wanted to!" Abel would ball a fist in annoyance, wanting very much to hit something in that moment.

"Mother! Someone please help us!" Satella's voice would echo off the walls of the unusually empty main entrance, normally there would be men and women helping to maintain the sparkling sheen that was expected of the L Bridget manor and their absence was always a sure sign that Olivia was planning something big. "Someone please!" The sounds of heavy coughing would follow this latest outburst followed by a heavy thud, sending the once furious Abel into a panic as he sped upstairs in only his socks as he honed in on the continued coughing fits only to find the young girl doing her best to help her mother to a sitting position.

"What happened?" The sandy-haired boy would immediately do his best to help the ailing Noelle, a move which surprised her own daughter even as the woman herself did her best to try and put on a brave face despite her dreary situation. "You don't look too good Miss Noelle, I could go ask Violet to call on our father's physician. That guy can fix anything!"

Satellizer would frown sadly as she helped her mother take her daily dose of medicine: first would go the pills, each being followed up by a generous drink of water as the blonde looked to the hopeful-eyed young man she was supposed to call "brother" "We've been to plenty of doctors, and they all keep saying the same thing: It's a matter of time, we should try and make mom comfortable." Tears would start brimming in her eyes as the sadness threatened to overwhelm her once again as she turned away from him. "It's not fair, why couldn't it have been anybody else?"

"Satella, you mustn't say such things..I'm sure that there are so many others who are suffering worse than we are right now." Noelle would calmly hold her crestfallen child close to her heart despite her body's aches and insistence upon resting, neither woman noticing as Abel stepped back and kept silent. "Right now there are families who have no place to call home, no food to keep their children's tummies full, no one else to support them in their times of hardship. Right now, we have all of these things." The pale-skinned brunette would look towards the mild-mannered young man standing off to the side, seeing a shade of her stoic lover in his expression even though his honey-colored eyes were filled with worry.

"And for that, I truly am grateful."

Satellizer would find herself staring into the steely-eyed gaze of a furious Yu-Mi Kim, doing her best to counter the older woman's anger with a gaze of her own, adrenaline still charging through her body following her battle with Miyabi, as well as the excitement that came with claiming the sapphire ring that she had previously considered a phantom memory. It was real, and with it she had a lead on the boy who had taken a beating to protect her from Louis.

At least, that was until her superiors confiscated from her.

"What the hell could you have possibly been thinking?! It's bad enough that you decided to attack an upperclassman, you also decided to grievously injure a student of another Genetics Branch. A branch we've barely begun to have friendly relations with!?" Yu-Mi forced herself to calm down even as her anger was threatening to boil over as the Untouchable Queen maintained a stoic expression, her blue eyes masked a deep-seated fire that would no doubt cause those unfamiliar with her to hesitate in challenging her. "I'm aware of the situation involving Miyabi thanks to a statement from Kazuya Aoi, self-defense or not..you were still very much out of line. And that's before we even get to the situation regarding Reinhardt."

Her mind would briefly flash back to the peculiar Limiter that had held a scythe, her instincts screaming at her that it was a Volt Weapon..something that shouldn't be possible.

" _The look in his eyes, it was like mine. But he's a Limiter..maybe even one of Miyabi's."_ The shift in his eyes from feral offense to desperation was something she still couldn't quite process, the way he called out to her by her special name, a privilege she had only given to the boy known as Kazuya Aoi. " _He even had the ring."_ Satellizer would shake her head in denial at the conclusion her instincts were pointing her toward.

" _No, that's not possible! Because that boy isn't..."_

Abel would frown as he applied the disinfectant to Satella's skinned knees, worried about the smoldering look in Violet's eyes as she had brought their injured sibling to be treated before mumbling something about their mother and storming off.

"Sorry if this stings Miss Satella, but trust me when i say it beats getting an infection." Abel would shudder as he remembered the times his birth father would purposely allow his sons wounds to become infected, it was his way of proving a point. If they were weak enough to allow themselves to be injured, then they deserved to live with the consequences.

"You..you don't have to call me Miss..Violet says that we're family." The young girl would do her best to smile through the pain she was experiencing, looking down at the young man whose frown of concern was becoming something of a common occurrence in her life. "We have the same Father after all, so you shouldn't have to be so formal." Satella would give a grateful smile as the kinder of her two brothers finished tending to her, standing up slowly and giving Abel a small hug before making her way back to her mother.

"The same father huh..." Abel would feel a wave of anger washing over him as he slammed the first aid kit shut, the harsh sound echoing off the walls as he started making his trek to return it to its proper place. "I really doubt that...Miss Satella"

The adopted son of Howard L. Bridget had begun to see the true outcome of his father's "business trips", wondering if he had anymore "family" scattered to the winds and just how he would feel if he were to ever encounter these individuals.

By that line of logic, who's to say that he was the only one that Howard L. Bridget had pulled from the streets?

"You would side with a wretched commoner over your own flesh and blood?!" The harsh edge of his step-mother Olivia's voice would snap him out of his angered fugue state, no doubt having another long-distance argument with her husband as the concept of divorce was no doubt a foreign concept to those of a nouvlesse upbringing.

"This isn't about taking sides at all mother, what you've told Louis is truly horrifying!" Violet's voice would cause the young man to stop his march completely, quickly finding a place out of their line of sight to eavesdrop on their conversation. "Regardless of how it happened, Satellizer is a member of our family and deserves to be treated with the proper respect!'

"Like the respect you give to that street urchin my husband plucked from the gutter, I see how he clings to your skirt like a lost child!" Olivia's voice would grow tinged with disgust as she was no doubt getting worked into a frenzy. "These people only care about OUR MONEY!"

A hushed silence would fall over the two women (and the one boy lurking in the shadows) as tension seemed to build to a boiling point between them, the grip on the first aid kit in Abel's hand turned white-knuckled as he forced himself to back away before losing his temper outright and instead making his way back to his bedroom instead.

Light would finally break through the darkness that had enveloped Abel's consciousness as he awoke to find himself looking up at the ceiling of what he hoped was an infirmary, his body aching as if it had gone through a battle with a whole platoon of third-year Pandora and somehow managed to survive the ordeal.

" _How did I get here..am I still at Genetics?"_ The less-than-able bodied young man would try to call out for assistance from the nearby nursing staff, although this plan of action would be thwarted by the hideous gurgling sound that emerged from his throat. " _Oh God, why can't I speak?!"_ Panic would overwhelm his body as he thrashed around, the machines monitoring his vital signs would begin to beep wildly in response to his elevated heart rate.

"Abel! Abel you need to calm down!" The frantic male Pandora would feel a pair of arms trying to restrain him back down to the bed, an action that would take him back to his final training session within the Devil's Nest and the feeling of suffocation that came with being blanketed by consecutive Freezing fields. "Someone! Anyone! I can't hold him much longer!" The beast dwelling in the depths of his consciousness was snarling in agitation as the rose-colored aura began to appear once again as his mind began to replay what little he could remember of what happened before falling unconscious.

" _I remember now. Satella was going to kill that Pandora, she had already been defeated and even her Limiters were down!"_ Flashes of the blonde Pandora raising her Volt Weapon for a killing blow, something that should only be used against the Nova. " _No matter what the reason for their fight was, that was going too far!"_ The memories of happier days involving a younger Satella would be slowly eroded by what he had recently seen of the now older Satellizer, a Pandora driven by the need to win over anything else.

" _I thought I could protect you from the world's monsters if I became Parcé's little freak show, but now I see the truth. You've become the monster!"_ Abel would let out a primal scream as the rose aura finally broke free, sending the startled Ticy skidding back as his hair color began to return to its distorted rose coloring. " _And God help me, I will not allow you to continue to run rampant ANYMORE!"_

"So this is what the power of a male Pandora looks like, it's so..heavy!" She could feel her body tremble slightly from the power being exerted, allowing herself a moment to breathe and regain her composure before giving the raging young man her most gentle smile. "I'm sure you went through a world of pain just to come as far as West Genetics, and I know that underneath all of that pain is a kind and gentle soul who just wants to help save the world." The Loyal Assassin would take a step forward, hoping against hope that her words would reach him despite the heavy blanket of power that enveloped his body.

Abel would awaken to the sensation of Violet's hand upon his shoulder, his body tingling from having fallen asleep in the awkward position of kneeling at his bedside in prayer and bolting to his feet only to be welcomed back to reality with a horrifying shock of pain thanks to his actions.

"Abel what are you doing here by yourself?" Violet would help him to a seated position on the edge of the bed before sitting down next to him with an exasperated sigh, not saying much of anything and instead allowing the two of them to sit in silence for a few moments. "Sometimes I wonder just how things have gotten so strained between Father and Mother, there was a point in their lives where they were a loving couple." She would wrap an arm around her younger sibling and lay his head on her shoulder, finding comfort in his presence as she always had during their years together.

Always dependable, always able to keep a happy outlook of the world despite the seemingly endless maelstrom that consisted of her father's extramarital dalliances, her mother's decision making in terms of what was being taught to Louis, and the addition of both a new younger sibling, as well as a mother who was already fighting a losing battle with disease.

At the end of the day she still had Abel, her True North.

"Am I really just a street rat?" Abel would finally break the tranquil silence that existed between them, Olivia's words still proving to be as resilient as a blood sucking tick and had already gone to work at breaking his self-confidence as well as breaking his unshakable faith in his adopted father. "Do you agree with what **she** said?"

He would look to his older sibling for some sort of guidance, surprised to find that only tears brimming in her eyes before being enveloped in yet another Violet-caliber hug that both made him feel protected and yet filled him with the courage to challenge a man twice his size.

And barring that, just going into another showdown with Louis.

"You're not a street rat anymore Abel, father made sure of that even before the ink on the adoption places were finalized." She would pause in her reply to ruffle his hair assuredly, wondering just how much of the quarrel with Olivia that he had heard. "And if you were truly after our fortune, then there would have been no reason for you to have stayed with us for as long as you have." She would sigh and give him one last gentle squeeze before pulling away and placing her hands on Abel's shoulders, the look of sadness from earlier replaced by one of fierce determination as she remembered what she had witnessed between Louis and Satella and resolving to stop it the only way she could think of doing.

"Abel, I want you to make me a promise. One that you must never, **EVER** break!"

Abel would feel conflicted as the power of the Stigmata surged through his body, whatever pain that he had felt upon waking had become a muted annoyance at the back of his mind as he stood tall upon an infirmary bed and kept hearing Violet's voice echoing in his head.

" _A promise..one you must never, **EVER** break!" _He would groan and place a hand on his head trying to quiet the storm of memories in his head, taking time to try and focus and ground himself back into the world of the present as his eyes darted around the area in an attempt to help gain a grip on his emotions and calm his Stigmata. " _If you only know just how much things have changed with Satella and myself."_

His eyes would continue roaming the area but stop upon seeing Ticy a few steps away from him, the aura no doubt proving to be something of an issue for her as he tried to speak and assuage her concerns only to hear that same annoying strangled gurgling and balling a fist in annoyance.

"Please don't try and speak Abel-kun, Miss Elize said that because of the extreme methods that your Professor used..your ability to speak would be compromised for a little while." The raven-haired Pandora would smile in relief as Abel finally stepped down from on top of the bed, the rose-colored aura would dial back to a faint outline over his body as he reached over and decided to communicate his concerns via the written word with a pencil and notepad. "That was part of the reason why I decided to come visit you once things had settled down, although I would be lying if I said that I wasn't worried about you..especially after I saw you lying in a puddle of blood." She would bite her lip and look down at her feet in supposed embarrassment, although she would look up at him to see that he had stopped writing and was holding out the notepad for her to see.

" _I'm sorry Ticy-Senpai, I didn't mean to cause you so much trouble."_ Abel would frown in embarrassment himself as she seemed to perk up slightly due to his response, of course it also could have been the small row of chibified turtles doing the can-can across the bottom end of the page he was writing on.

"You're forgiven, on one condition." Ticy would give a worried smile as his expression became one of hesitation as if he were wondering just what kind of Faustian terms she was going to lay out on the table, and maybe if it were any other of her fellow third years then there certainly would be. "I want you to come stay with me... a-a-and some of your fellow Pandora!" She would try and control the rising flush before composing herself quickly. "You shouldn't have to be isolated like you were back in Marrakesh, being a Pandora isn't just about learning to combat the Nova and fight..you learn to work with the others around you, the Limiters, other Pandora..everyone!"

Abel would consider her offer in silence: on the one hand it was a chance to break free of the Professor's death grip and learn what it was like to be a normal teenage boy, for too long he had always been in the shadow of somebody else's footsteps.

With his father and the rest of his thieving group he was the designated runner, tasked with scoping out viable escape routes in case things went wrong.

With Violet it was all about being the little "big man", she would make up certain situations for her "brave" little brother to conquer such as spiders and cockroaches.

As for his deal with the ego-maniacal Professor Ciel, he was the living guinea pig for her "Project Incubus" and were the synthetic Stigmata to be any sort of success then maybe his sacrifices thus far would help turn the tide in humanity's war against the Nova.

But then there was the flip-side, the chance that Parcé would cut him loose if he showed any signs of independence and ignored the greater good of her research (and by extension, the world.) and if he were to be stripped of these Stigmata, then everything he had worked so hard for would be lost.

 _"Ticy-Senpai, I truly appreciate your kind offer. I want to accept it, but even if I weren't..the way i am now it would go against the rules."_ The rose-haired young man would stare glumly at his ring finger with a sense of loss. _"We're both walking toward the same goal, but my path isn't as sure-footed as yours..I have to do what the Professor says."_ He had hated writing those words, that much was certain.

But the pained look on Ticy's face as she read those words left a scar on his soul that was sure to linger for years to come.

Satellizer would sigh as she found herself once again sitting inside the Brig with her gaze firmly on her own ring finger, for the briefest of moments she had a solid lead on a figure from her past, one of the few souls who had been kind to her.

The sapphire ring belonged to someone who cared about her and risked their physical well-being for her, but no matter how hard the Untouchable Queen tried to dig through her memories and finding only snippets of the terror that her brother wrought upon her body.

A much younger Abel would be pacing outside the door to Satella's room, wondering what he was supposed to say to the girl, Violet had laid upon him a heavy task and expected him to preform as she expected of him.

"Abel, what are you doing out here?" Satella had opened the door just enough to poke her head out and notice his nerve-wracked pacing, wondering if he were doing his best impression of a soldier on duty. "It's awfully late and i'm really tired."

The blonde-haired girl would frown as he held out his pinky to her, her brow furrowing deeper as the confusion continued to build.

"Satella, this is a pinky promise. As your brother I promise to keep you safe from all the crazy things in the world!" Abel would give her a warm smile as he held out his pinky finger to her, watching as his sister hesitantly twined her own finger with his. "Alright then, it's a promise!"

With his task fulfilled, Abel would walk back to his room with his head held high as Satella closed the door and turned back to face Louis, who had watched the exchange with a twisted grin.

"What a foolish little twit, he should've stayed at Violet's bedside like a good little pet" The demented young man would guide his frightened sibling back to the bed that was rightfully hers, running his fingers through her golden locks despite the faintest whimpers of protest. "After all, you already belong to me..my precious little doll."

 _ **Massive apologies for the lateness of this chapter, but this might be the last "Ballad" for a while.**_

 _ **I've recently started to read the Manga more steadily now, as such I plan to alter the course of this fic from an OC's perspective of Season 1.**_

 _ **I feel that Abel can do more in this story than continue to nip at Satellizer's heels and play annoying C-Block to any future KazuyaxSatellizer interactions, in fact I've had to cut the following events out of this chapter to accommodate this change in mindset**_

 _ **\- Abel was going to recover from his wounds WITHOUT hindrance and go back to threaten Miyabi to "stay away from his sister"**_

 _ **-A scene between the third years speculating about the "new kid" and whether he could be "useful to them."**_

 _ **-A talk between Chiffon and Kazuya where the former warns the latter to keep his distance from the Untouchable Queen**_

 _ **-Even more AbelxViolet fluff**_

 _ **I plan for Abel to have his own adventures through West Genetics, separate from Satellizer until the events of her fight against Rana.**_

 _ **Maybe he'll take sides with the third years AGAINST Satellizer, perhaps Parcé will continue to try and chip away at his humanity.**_

 _ **Maybe we'll get more AbelxTicy teases, I'm really digging that. Especially since Ticy was a background character during Season 1.**_

 _ **In any case, I plan to update one more time this month.**_

 _ **Please be excited.**_


	8. Miscalculation

_**Now we get into the meat and potatoes of our tale, Abel's about to spread his wings..somewhat.**_

 _ **Disclaimer: Again, I only own Abel and Parcé**_

Time spent recovering in the infirmary seemed to drag on like sands slowly falling through an hourglass, it certainly didn't help that following his earlier conversation with her that Ticy's visits were becoming much more formal then they previously had been, as well as less frequent.

" _I guess my words did more damage than I anticipated, but..she has a Limiter, her fellow Senpai, it'll be okay."_ Abel would only shake his head in disgust as his lie rang hollow in his own heart, her presence had only just started to feel like a welcome constant in his lonely world, and now that she was gone..it was as if someone had decided to block out the first rays of sunlight. "Damn military hierarchy!" He would kick the nearby trash bin out of frustration, unaware of the arrival in his room until the subtle clearing of a throat could be heard from behind him as the rose-haired young man whirled around to face the unyielding smile of a Pandora whose very presence seemed to appear welcoming even as her unopened eyes caused him to shudder slightly.

"I'll admit that while some of our regulations can be a bit stifling, we are still at the mercy of the government and expected to behave like proper ladies and gentleman." The Pandora would calmly pull up what was normally Ticy's chair in this situation and take a seat, gesturing for the still somewhat startled Abel to do the same all while her smile seeming to stay disturbingly frozen in place. "Normally I'd be doing this sort of thing on your first day here, but given how both you and another student happened to arrive on the same day, I felt it was probably best to leave this sort of thing to my friend Ticy."

Abel's brow would furrow at the mention of Ticy's name, quickly grabbing his notepad and quickly writing down the one question that he had been dying to ask.

 _"Who the hell are you?"_ He would show the simple message to her, the young woman's smile unchanging even as the atmosphere in the room took a slight dip in temperature. It would've been enough to scare the young man silent, if he weren't already mute " _How much of that did you hear?"_ He would show her the notepad, deciding to be more courteous with the Pandora in front of him.

She would pause to read the message before crossing her leg casually, the chill in the air dissipating as quickly as it had come. "Enough to know that you're upset about the rules here, but as I said-" The Pandora would pause once again, seeing the pen moving furiously as he wrote and showed it to her.

" _That's not why I'm angry. A friend of mine asked me stay alongside her and her friends, I wanted to..but I couldn't risk it."_ Abel would quickly flip the page to the next empty page and start writing again in just as much of a frenzy as he was earlier, stopping suddenly and tearing the page away and crumpling it up before showing her a sketch of a turtle holding up a sign that simply stated "I miss you" along with a question written underneath. " _Can you please give this to Ticy Phenyl? She's a third year Pandora."_

The young woman in front of him would nod, the smile slowly morphing into a knowing frown as she took the drawing and folded it calmly before putting it in her pocket. "I'll see that she gets this, in the meantime I suggest you get some rest and try not to worry about this situation regarding your friend. These things have a way of working themselves out." Her smile would quickly reappear as she stood up and made her exit from the room, a bewildered Abel plopped down on the edge of the infirmary bed as he tried to make sense of what happened in those brief few minutes of conversation.

" _Who was that girl?"_

 _*_ **Change***

Parcé could barely believe her string of good fortune on this particular night, she had proven her superiority over Elize by forcing Abel's Stigmata into healing themselves, and now was getting a second chance to gain more data on her new plaything as she watched Satellizer L. Bridget doing battle with another Pandora who seemed to vastly overpower the Untouchable Queen, a stark contrast to what the lavender-haired scientist expected of the woman.

" _This weakling is supposed to be the key to Abel's growth, yet for all her cold-hearted bluster and hard-lined tactics she's getting her shapely ass handed to her!"_ Even when the blonde seemingly disappeared in an attempt to outmaneuver her opponent through speed, the red-haired woman seemed to anticipate the blow before flinging her aside. " _Even with a High End technique, she was repelled like a child!"_ Parcé's brow would furrow in thought as she quickly did the numbers regarding her abilities and paired them against the last tests she had run on her Abel and frowned at the outcome.

"These people were head and shoulders above even my highest projections for Abel's growth, even with round the clock training and proper time taken for modifications to his Stigmata.." She would ball a fist in agitation at what the numbers were showing her, it was as if reality had decided to drown her in a cold sobering truth. "Which means I need to shift the focus to.."

Things had gone deathly silent in the midst of her calculations, and as she surveyed the area around her, a crowd had filled the balconies and other places for observation.

"I'll give you one last chance, if you can find someone stupid enough to become your Limiter. I'll give you time to perform the Baptism!" Ingrid appeared completely at ease despite the crowd surrounding them as well as the addition of a blonde-haired young man now standing beside her, judging by his defensive expression this was no doubt her Limiter. "How about it boys, will any one of you come forth to help the Untouchable Queen?"

In response to the red-haired woman's invitation was an extreme understatement, it was clear to all that the Queen would receive no help from them, although that didn't keep Parcé from scanning the crowd for a hint of rose-colored hair.

" _That idiot must be taking his time to heal, there's no way he'd neglect helping his precious sibling..even after she had cut his throat like a pig at a slaughterhouse!"_ The scientist would grit her teeth in annoyance, the plan was for the Queen to work her boy into a frenzy and yet her own blood pressure was rising nonetheless. " _The idiocy must be hereditary, that's the ONLY explanation for this madness!"_

"I'll take that challenge."

Everyone in the area from spectator to combatant would look to find the source of such a defiant voice, only to find Kazuya Aoi making his way up to an equally shocked Satellizer L. Bridget.

" _This is an interesting development, someone as insane as my Abel"_ The older woman would watch on silently as the raven-haired boy knelt down before his still befuddled partner to-be. _"Yet, this could end up playing to my advantage."_ She would give a knowing smile at what was about to occur, this would assuredly tip the scales back in the Queen's favor.

"I can't!" The blonde-haired Pandora would cross her arms suddenly, shaking her head vigorously even as her cheeks reddened at the thought, murmurs began to be heard from those in the crowd at her reaction. "It's too dirty, like feeling a thousand tongues licking me at once!"

Murmurs of befuddlement would erupt from the crowd again, leading the scientist to grow bored as the red-haired Pandora called upon her Limiter to initiate the Ereinbar set. A clear sign that the battle would be over.

Until the impossible seemed to occur before their eyes, the Freezing field was nullified by the raven-haired boy before them as a look of shock passed between Satellizer's opponents.

" _What the hell? That boy's able to cast a field despite not being Baptized?"_ The woman could feel the familiar itch of curiosity tingle across her skin as she shifted her device's focus toward the boy instead of the battle, even though it would only give her peripheral data that could be gained from a physical. " _So many new toys to play with!"_

The tide of the battle would begin to turn in the Queen's favor after a lucky strike against the redhead, but it was a fleeting shift as the Limiter once again asserted his Freezing field only for the raven-haired boy to counter it once more, this time with an omni-directional field.

" _Just what the hell is this kid, only the Nova themselves should have that kind of power!"_ The device would slip from her hands and hit the floor as Parcé noticed her hands trembling in fear at the thought of a human with Nova ability, shaking her head as screams could be heard in her thoughts. " _And that bitch Elize had the nerve to call **me** a monster!?" _She would quickly recover her device and turn it back toward the battle, only to find that the redhead had gone into her Pandora Mode and was now slowly making her way towards the boy, only for a second Freezing field to bring her down once more.

"A Freezing field stronger than the last one?" She would look down at her device for answers, raising an eyebrow at the readings being displayed. "This..has to be a glitch, there's no way this should be statistically impossible!" She would turn away and begin her trek back to the dorm where she was currently residing, but not before her ears caught one final interesting piece of information.

"That boy is Kazuya Aoi"

The scientist would smirk quietly, deciding to pick up the pace of her walk before seeing the woman known as Ganessa Roland and formulating a plan to fix her other problem. "Miss Roland, do you have a minute?" She would ignore the perplexed look on the Angel of Binding's face and instead press forward with her conversation. "I do believe I have a problem that you may be able to help me with."

Ganessa would give the scientist a shrewd glare, raising her eyebrow as if trying to asses something for herself. "I've seen you before, you were in the crowd when I was fighting the Untouchable Queen" She would frown as if she were reliving the events of the battle in her own mind. "Wasn't there someone with you?"

The lavender-haired woman would chuckle to herself as she pictured a sour-faced Abel cooped up in the infirmary bed, no doubt doodling turtles onto his notepad as he'd recently begun doing.

"Yes, my dear son Abel. He's quite the impetuous little handful." She would feign a despondent sigh as she felt the Angel's gaze start to drift elsewhere, her attention was paramount to executing her scheme. "The young lad seems to have gotten the erroneous idea that he could take on a Pandora, despite my insistence otherwise."

Ganessa would look at the scientist as if someone had pulled a _Twin Peaks_ and teleported her to the red room and had begun speaking backwards, a slight giggle would be heard from the Angel of Binding before erupting into full-on laughter.

"You have **got** to be fucking with me, that little pipsqueak looks like a slight breeze could knock him over!" She would wipe a tear from her eye as the laughter finally began to taper off. "So what, you want me to rough him up a little, maybe give him a few slaps to the face?"

Parcé's expression would become deathly serious, waiting until the Pandora's laughter completely died down before responding. "No Miss Roland, I want you to break him." The scientist would ignore the horrified look on Ganessa's face and level a steely gaze. "My Abel seems to think very little of the Pandora's sacrifices against the Nova, he needs to be humbled."

The red-headed woman would be struck silent at what was being asked of her, no matter how justified it would be to all of her comrades it would mean attacking a Limiter.

"I take it by your hesitation that you refuse to help me? A pity." She would turn away from the redheaded woman with an exaggerated flourish of her hair. "I suppose this'll be just another victory the Untouchable Queen has over you, we all know that it was dumb luck that you attained Rank one anyhow."

She could feel the anger brimming from the Pandora behind her, pretty much assuring her future cooperation.

 _ ***Change***_

Ticy would sigh to herself quietly as she finished feeding Tii, her mind however would be elsewhere as she tried not to fret about about the day before.

"I'm sure he has a good reason for turning my invitation down. After all, he was just trying to stick to the rules." She would sigh sadly as she flopped down on her bed, knowing she should try and move past her feelings of sadness. "Who am I kidding, that professor seems like a well-read woman."

The Loyal assassin could feel herself beginning to nod off, a knock on her door keeping her eyes from shutting completely as she got up to answer the door only to see a slip of paper slide under the door. Making a slight noise of curiosity as she knelt down to see what it was, unfolding it to find a lovingly drawn turtle holding up a sign that read:

"I miss you."

Ticy would see this and feel a slight swell of hope, maybe Abel hadn't totally pushed her away after all, and there may still be a chance for the two of them to become better friends.

Meanwhile, Chiffon Fairchild would give a knowing smile as she calmly made her way back to her own dorm. She had done as the boy had asked.

No more, no less.

 _ **This chapter was a nightmare, not from a canon standpoint nor a character one. But every time I tried to sit down and hammer this mother out, SOMETHING would come up, a school assignment, technical issues, computer issues, I swear to God the only reason I managed to get this chapter out was because of where I am in the manga at the moment!**_

 _ **All i'm gonna say right now is: Damn, new Ticy is scary**_


	9. Dawn of A New Day

_**I feel like this has become one of my more popular stories, not sure why..not gonna question it.**_

 _ **Skipping the Disclaimer, hella redundant**_

Abel would keep deathly still as Elize continued checking on his vitals, even going as far as to shine the annoying light in his eyes. "Pupil reaction seems normal, now let's get a look at those vocal cords." While the doctor word chuckle at her own joke, the male Pandora was in zero mood as only a few days had passed since his short-lived discussion with the Pandora Who Smiles and he still had yet to shake off the lingering unease he had felt in her presence. "Seriously though, you're gonna wanna hold still. I need to make a scan of your vocal cords to see how your healing is progressing." She would watch as the boy hurriedly wrote something down on the notepad that had been sitting by the desk before showing it to her.

" _When can I get out of here, I'm going stir-crazy being stuck in this room!?"_ The look of impatience that followed this statement was enough to give the good doctor a dose of just how wound up her patient was feeling and sighed, deciding to scan him rather then voice the thoughts that were working through her head at that moment. Once she was satisfied with what she saw, Elize moved the notepad to a blank page and started scribbling something of her own before ripping the page out and letting him read it.

" _You've been free to get up and leave for days now, I told Ciel as much when she stopped by my office yesterday."_ Elize would give him a look of annoyance before leaving the room without much more fanfare, leaving the rose-haired Pandora all the more irritated at having been needlessly cooped up inside of a room for days on end when he could've been training, learning more about the Pandora he shared a school with, including one that had unexpectedly taken up a fair amount of space in his head.

" _It's about time I gave Ticy-Senpai a proper apology, and not just a turtle with a sign like last time!"_ Abel would quickly shed the hospital gown that he had been resigned to wearing that day and quickly dressed into the standard Genetics uniform reserved for the men, sighing in relief as he felt the familiar weight of the material on his body and quickly headed for the door as he mentally planned out how best to make amends to the raven-haired Pandora.

Although any plans he might have begun laying down were put to a screeching halt when the door slid open to reveal the good professor herself, a cup of coffee in one hand and her digital clipboard in the other.

"And just where do you think you're going, you're still in recovery." The lavender-haired woman would take a sip of her coffee while shouldering her way past him into the room and looking around the room with clear disdain before taking a look at his medical chart with the most fleeting of glances. "Of course Doctor Schitz would give you a clean bill of health despite lacking the ability to speak. God damned quack."

Abel would groan audibly and show her the slip of paper where Elize had pretty much deemed him cleared to return to classes for quite some time, an indignant glare upon his face as she calmly read it.

"Cute; but seeing as **I'm** the one who helped keep you breathing after your long-lost sibling decided to slice your throat like a pig on the killing floor, I think I'm the one who should be signing off on your release." Parcé would take the slip of paper from her furious ward and tear it into tatters as she ignored the seething look of hatred from the male Pandora, instead returning her gaze to the device that she had always carried with her while raising an eyebrow of intrigue. "Now be a good little lab rat and get back in bed, lest you'd rather be shipped back to Marrakesh instead. I'm pretty sure Hana would love to take another piece of flesh from your hide, maybe even take away your precious jewel." She would make a playful reach for the blue sapphire ring, pulling her hand away as his gaze turned feral and made a move to defend the only gift he had from the one L. Bridget who still loved him.

" _That's right, never forget that at the end of the day you're an outcast. My beast."_ Satisfied with his response, she would turn away and type out a quick message out to a no doubt waiting Ganessa Roland. She would pause and smirk at the chaos that was bound to ensue from their battle.

 _ ***The Beast may sleep, but its ferocity is never truly at rest***_

For Ticy Phenyl, the dawn of this new day would bring a sense of determination as she set about her daily activities as both a student of West Genetics as well as its Student Council V.P, the situation with Abel seemingly having been put to rest with that one note, it was clear that he hadn't intended to push her away as a friend.

But as she looked upon the note during her lunch period with Chiffon and the other third years, she couldn't help but wonder what had caused his attitude to shift in such a short span of time.

"Oh, and just what has our dear Ticy struck so silent this fine afternoon?" The raven-haired Pandora barely had time to react before the doodle was snatched from her fingers, blushing furiously in embarrassment as she looked to see the perpetrator was the one person among her group that she dreaded having something so personal. "Aww, it looks like little Abel sent Ticy a love note. You think he'd be satisfied with just being made her Limiter, but I guess some guys feel the need to go the extra mile." The silver-haired woman would giggle as she dangled the doodle just out of Ticy's reach.

"Honestly Attia, are you really so bored that you have to go picking on Ticy of all people? Surely there's a gaggle of first years that you could go and harass, at least before Chiffon lays down the law." Arnett Mcmillan, another of the third year Pandora was best known as being the rabid dog of Elizabeth Mably's faction of Pandora. While on paper Chiffon Fairchild was the president of their student council and the voice for them when it came to dealing with the higher ups such as Ms. Yu-mi and even Sister Margaret (on rare occasions), in reality the true mantle of leadership was firmly draped across the shoulders of the woman known as The Empress as well as heiress to the Mably Business Empire. "Still, i'm sure that **you** could hold down the fort of Attia decided to have some fun, couldn't you Ticy?" The redhead would smile at the still flustered raven-haired woman like a shark smelling blood in the water, the former sharing a very heated rivalry with the latter due to actions that had occurred during previous Carnivals.

"You sure you wanna bark up that tree Arnett, last I recall things didn't end that well." Creo Brand would allow herself the briefest of smiles as she enjoyed the burgers she had chosen for lunch, ignoring the heated glare from her redheaded counterpart. "I think it's cute that Abel leaves you little love notes, Goro could stand to learn from him." The dark-skinned woman would begin eating her second burger, confident that her point had been made as Arnett had calmed down enough to keep from starting a fight between two high level Pandora in a crowded area.

"Yeah, he really is something.." Ticy would look over at the long line of students gathering their food for the lunch period, her own Limiter was at the head of the Burger Queen line and was now paying for his food, sure the fair-haired Pandora had a nasty habit of speaking his mind (something that had gotten him on Chiffon's bad side in the early days of their knowing each other.) but he was a kind and honest man and a loving partner. "I really should spend more time with him, make sure he knows just how lucky he is." Ticy would snatch the doodle back from her fellow third year, she had taken something of a shine to her "Other Abel" but it was from the perspective of seeing someone of his quiet and kind demeanor trapped under the reins of that overprotective doctor.

Her mind would briefly flash back to the fallout of the fight between Satellizer and Miyabi.

 _ ***Isn't a guardian supposed to protect the person they're guarding?***_

Ticy had been pacing quietly outside of the doors of the infirmary, the sight of Abel laying in a pool of his own blood was still disturbingly fresh in her mind as she looked to see the Emergency light still going strong.

 _"I shouldn't have let him go alone. Maybe if I had used Acceleration to block his way, then he wouldn't have gotten hurt."_ The raven-haired woman would gasp as she felt a hand on her shoulder, looking back to find the ever-present smile of her dear friend Chiffon Fairchild. "So, I guess this means that things with Satellizer have been settled for now?"

"Not exactly. Since our new friend was under the protection of someone from an outside branch, the judgment would ultimately fall to a representative from that branch." Chiffon's smile would slowly turn into a knowing frown as the buzz of the Emergency light finally died as the pair looked to the doors for some sort of sign, instead they would see a very exasperated looking Professor Ciel confidently striding past them as if she were a supermodel doing her time on the catwalk. "Professor, is there any word on Abel's condition?"

The tan-skinned woman would turn to face them, a slight look of annoyance on her features would pass almost as quickly as it had appeared upon recognizing Ticy.

"He's going to be fine dear, although it would behoove him to stay out of affairs that aren't his own." Sighing in annoyance as she pinched the bridge of her nose to alleviate some unknown stress, her expression shifting from concern to weariness. "Honestly what was that idiot thinking?! He almost wasted years of research in some vain attempt to deal with that damn Queen!"

Chiffon's frown would deepen upon hearing this, not wanting to press the issue any further she would decide on a different tactic. "I'm surprised you would let such precious research out into the field, clearly there must be a reason for your coming here to West Genetics." The Smiling Monster couldn't help but wonder if the male Pandora had some reason for going after that particular second year, especially given Parcé's irritation toward Satellizer. "Surely he isn't so reckless as to pick a fight with one of our strongest second years without a very good reason, would he?" She would watch the good doctor's facial reactions carefully, noticing a slight twitch in her right eye before her expression became concerned once again.

"Apparently he has a bit of a past with your "Untouchable Queen", it's not my place to say how deep it goes but..he BEGGED me to attend this institution, I for one wanted to visit the U.K. Branch." She would sigh and leave the waiting room as Chiffon and Ticy exchanged perplexed looks.

"You really think what she's saying is true Chiffon? That Abel has some connection to Satellizer?" The raven-haired woman would remember just how surprised he appeared when she much as mentioned the other woman's name, even going so far as to race out of the room before Ticy herself could relay the full situation to him. "That would explain why he reacted the way he did.."

Chiffon would furrow her brow in thought as she tried to piece together what little she had been able to glean from her brief exchange with the older woman, there was a great deal of information probably still being held back that she couldn't glean without some powerful connections of her own. "Now now Ticy, let's not jump to conclusions until we get both sides of this story." The Smiling Monster would walk off toward the entrance door, leaving Ticy to mull over her own worries about the young man.

 _ ***The most dangerous creature isn't always the biggest or the strongest, but the most desperate***_

Abel could finally take no more of his extended imprisonment. The sun was already setting and he had yet to receive even the most benign type of visit from Ticy-senpai, furthering his already agitated mood as Parcé continued to poke and prod at him whilst putting him through the normal academic itinerary.

"Must. Get. Out!" He would mumble to himself as he looked down at the complicated math equation that was supposed to represent the fundamentals behind the Acceleration Turn, however he would see nothing but another impossible mountain to climb and this time there was no Violet to help him see it more clearly. "This is..stupid!" He would crumple up the paper in his hands, the anger he was feeling was now causing him to tremble visibly which pleased his current tormentor to no end.

"You can crumple up all the papers you want, that's not going to make me clear you any faster." The purple-haired woman would continue reviewing the small amounts of data she had managed to gather on Kazuya Aoi, if she could unlock the secret to his abilities then this would be one of the greater scientific discoveries in Pandora research. "Oh my, I do believe all this coffee has finally begun to kick in. I'll be in the ladies room, and I expect you to keep studying!"

He would wait until she was completely out of sight to try and make his escape, running to the window and doing his best to open it and growling in frustration when it wouldn't budge. "Damn anti-suicide windows!" The rose-haired young man would go scurrying towards the door and opening it, running down the hall as fast as he could without much regard for the people who were in his way as he made a tear for the door and fresh air. "I'm finally gonna be able to set things right with Ticy-senpai, then...then..." Abel would slow down, remembering why he had decided to go to West Genetics from the get-go: The sister he had hoped to reunite with was now a monster driven to win, his whole reason for even becoming Parcé's little experiment was now more than a lost cause. " _What do I do now?"_

"There you are you little shit!" A voice would snap him back to reality, just in time to come face to face with a very unhappy Ganessa Roland, given her attitude towards Satellizer in their brawl from a while ago Abel wondered if she even knew what the word "happy" even meant. "So, you really think a little runt like you can stand up to a Pandora?!" The redheaded woman's fists were clenched in anger as her expression darkened to one of pure malice. "I asked you a question maggot, now answer me!"

" _And I'm in zero position to give you a proper answer, not that a craven bitch like you even deserves one."_ He would take a breath and scan the area around him, there was hardly anyone around for him to ask for help and he wasn't sure if his body was up to the task of going all out or even summoning his Volt Weapon. " _Shit, something tells me this is not gonna go the way I'm envisioning it."_ The rose-haired man was secretly terrified, but he would give her a confident smirk as he readied his fists for what was no doubt the beginning of a very bad time.

"You..you disgusting little urchin!" The very air around Ganessa would tremble as her anger reached its boiling point, she wanted to fight him regardless of whether her previous questions and that no amount of him glaring at her would cause her to back down. "Deploying Volt Weapon: Chains of Binding!" There they were, those same six chains that Satellizer had faced down and had eventually won against them, she would grin maliciously before sending them after him

" _She's going to try and string me up, keep me pinned down to the point where I can't fight back!"_ Abel would breathe and do his best to avoid these iron serpents, it wasn't about trying to play defense like his sibling had but to rush through the holes in her offense and strike a quick blow. Something that he did by weaving past two of these chains and making a beeline for the pigtailed Pandora, raising his fist to go for a stiff left cross when he was close enough to smell her perfume. " _Can't afford to mess this up!"_

Ganessa would simply smile proudly as one of her chains had snaked itself around his leg during the course of his run, sending him flying up into the air before slamming him back to the ground with a harsh thud. "Aww, you were so close to actually touching me. I bet that would've been that would've the closest you've gotten to a woman since puberty!" She would give a haughty laugh before lifting him up and slamming him back down to the ground, dragging him up to her eye level as she slapped his cheeks.

" _Great, she's just like Hana..only with a smaller rack and a worse attitude."_ His vision would start to blur as she continued to slap his cheeks, a cocky smirk on her face as she continued to badmouth him. " _Bitchslapped by a bitch, it's not funny. It's not schadenfreude. It's like very slowly being force-fed a shit sandwich!"_ He could feel the same hum of power that he felt on his last day in Marrakesh, the same sense of desperation and frustration as Hana pranced around wearing the ring that Violet had given to him.

"This is NOT what that bitch Parcé promised me. I was told you were some sort of caged animal, someone who was so high off his own bullshit that he NEEDED to be humbled!" Ganessa would give an exaggerated yawn before tossing him aside like a used condom wrapper, sneering as she prepared to finish him off and send him right back to his hospital bed. "I guess I'll have to work out my excess energy on Arthur, hopefully he doesn't get too drunk before this one." She would bring down her flails with an annoyed huff, already thinking of how to get back at that lab coat loving bitch as the dust was kicked up from the force of her weapon.

" _Volt Weapon, deploy!"_ Abel would sigh in relief as he felt the familiar weight of his scythe in his hands, the chained flails mere inches from his person as he got back up to his feet, the redhead still mumbling to herself as she no doubt considered him already out of commission and was no doubt letting her guard down. "Time to bloom, Sangré Rose." He would spin his scythe fast enough to blow aside the cloud of dust, once again charging forward to give her the fight she deserved as the Angel of Binding had been sufficiently distracted by her own arrogance.

"...Man you're so predictable!" The chains would burst out from below the ground, cutting off his direct path to her and knocking his scythe aside before two of them would become saws and go straight for his face, leaving him only a split second to drive aside to safety before retrieving his weapon and getting some distance from her. "The doc said you would try to cheap shot me, so I decided to let you think I was done and see just how stupid you can be."

 _"The doc's in on this shit too! Ugh, this is probably just another giant field test for her!"_ His grip on his Volt Weapon would tighten furiously as he scanned the area again, this time looking for any sign of the purple-haired manipulator or her scanning device. The woman was the kind of individual who placed knowledge above all else, even going so far as to kill a scientist for daring to bring up the name of Gengo Aoi in a meeting after his first clash with a group of Pandora rejects taken in by the Nest. " _She probably wants to see how far I'll go when sufficiently pushed, well..Father always said the worse thing you could do to a lady was to disappoint her."_ Just thinking about his philandering adoptive father brought his focus back towards the spawn of such an affair: the monster that was now masquerading as Satellizer L. Bridget.

Letting out a roar of anger and hatred was enough to get the Angel of Binding's attention, the rose-colored haze building up around his body was enough to set the woman's nerves on edge. " _Okay, the hag left this off the docket she gave me. If this dork is able to summon a Volt Weapon, then is this-"_ Her eyes would widen in realization at what was about to happen and grit her teeth in anger. "No! No it's bad enough that that bitch Satellizer can use it, but I'll be damned if a freak show like **you** gets the drop on me with Pandora Mode!" Ganessa would snarl as she readied herself for the eventual showdown, about to call forth her own Pandora Mode when she noticed that they weren't alone.

"I see that we're missing out on quite the spectacle here, wouldn't you agree Creo? Arnett?" Attia Simmons would stand at the head of her group of fellow third years including "The Slashing Trickster" Arnett McMillan and "The Lightning Hammer" Creo Brand, both women already having deployed their Volt Weapons and were now standing between the pair. "Seems like we have quite the anomaly on our hands here, a boy with the capabilities of a Pandora. Seems like the rumors we've been hearing are more fact then fiction."

"Yeah, too bad his scythe-work is completely low tier." Arnett would grin as she saw a flash of anger in the young man's eyes, licking her lips in anticipation of him trying something foolish, her Scythe Machina crying out for some action as she readied her own stance. "Go ahead and jump little froggy, I'll be happy to school you nice and hard."

" _What the hell is with this chick, she's easy on the eyes but..I can hear my beating wildly!"_ Abel would visibly hesitate in the face of a true scythe master, his instincts were screaming at him to retreat but his body refused to listen. " _Wh-why am I so terrified, Why can't I move!?"_

Ganessa would sneer, already calculating the perfect way to continue the fight without disrupting the third-year in front of her and hopefully pull a disappearing act before they were any the wiser.

"Don't try it Ganessa, you'd never be able to knock him out AND escape before Creo is able to retaliate. And believe me i say that even her "kid gloves" can make you vomit up your lunch." Ingrid Bernstein, "the Guardian of Order" would place a gentle hand on the startled girl's shoulder, giving her a sympathetic smile as she tried to diffuse the situation. "This is over now, best to head back before your Limiter gets worried."

The cocky second year would sigh before dispelling her Chains of Binding and sigh, throwing up in her frustration as she turned to walk away. "That hag was selling me a load of B.S. anyhow!"

Attia would roll her eyes as Ganessa continued to rant as she walked away, her gaze slowly returning to her reason for interrupting the fight, she would watch the young man's aura dissipate as he continued to look upon Arnett like a deer in the headlights. "Smart move, Arnett there wouldn't hesitate to slice you to ribbons before we delivered you to Elizabeth. I'd rather not have to explain the bloody mess we'd bring to third years doorstep."

" _Damn, I'm outnumbered..outgunned..still not at a hundred percent. Not to mention that these aren't the lazy gits that the Nest picks up."_ Abel would calmly put away his volt weapon and held up his hands, not sure if running was even a feasible idea given the type of women staring him down. "Can't...talk. Won't..resist."

"Aww, and here I thought I was gonna get to do a little frog dissection. Bo-ring~" Arnett would dispel her Volt Weapon and Accel to the point where she was now standing next to him, sighing as the rose-haired boy seemed visibly rattled. "Jesus Christ, what did they teach you in that hell hole you crawled out of? You act like this is the first time you've seen an Accelerating Turn!"

He would frown and hold up two fingers, struggling to find the right words to explain the situation without revealing his relationship with Satellizer. Sighing as Arnett and the other Third Years led him back to their dorm, Parcé was going to have his ass for running off but unlike her, they could actually destroy him if push came to shove.

"Well that's just **lovely** , I can already see Elizabeth demanding that I get you up to snuff! WE HAVE TEACHERS FOR THAT YA KNOW?!" Arnett's ranting and raving would continue for the remainder of their walk back.

 _ **I did say I was gonna deviate from Abel just playing lost puppy to Satellizer, as for why Elizabeth's group gets involved stay tuned folks.**_

 _ **And as for you "Guest", I offer my apologies, between College stuff, and a crippling month-plus bout of depression I'm pathetically behind and will TRY to update things in the meantime.**_

 _ **~From the desk of Prestige Productions**_


	10. Heavy Is The Crown I

_**A promise is a promise, so here's another update!**_

Abel would look around in silent curiosity as he found himself waiting in a rather spacious looking area, complete with a swimming pool with some amazingly clear blue water. "This is incredible, not even Marrakesh has anything this fancy!" He wanted to say more but then realized he was still by himself, the third years had demanded he stay put while they changed into something more appropriate. "What could be appropriate for an ass-kicking, every third year I've ever met has used the lower classmen for punching bags. Although they were kind enough to let that bitch Ganessa go." The rose-haired young man would go to the edge of the pool and look down at his reflection, noting the Genetics uniform he was wearing and wondering why he continued sporting the symbols belonging to the Devil's Nest.

"Think fast little Froggy!" Abel would look over to see a beach ball flying towards his face, leaning back to catch the ball with a cheeky grin, before chucking it back at her with ease. "Not gonna flatten this frog you-" His words would be cut off as he found himself falling into the pool with a splash, the redheaded Pandora would cackle as she watched the newbie splash around helplessly before making it to the edge of the pool.

"Not so cocky now are you, now change out of that damn foreign suit before you catch cold!" The Slashing Trickster would give him a cheeky grin before helping him up to his feet, seemingly done with teasing him as her smile softened into something more genuine before shoving him right back into the water, laughing uproariously as she watched him flop around once again. "My god, you're making this way too easy!"

"It amazes me how easily entertained you are, it's a wonder how more people around here aren't calling you a Mad Dog lately." Attia would look down at the male Pandora who had finally managed to fish himself out of the pool, her gaze full of disdain as she watched him trying to shake the water from himself a shaggy dog. "You know, you really should undress before it gets any worse. Unless you're afraid of being naked in front of such a beautiful specimen like myself, or perhaps you're trying to keep from revealing how unimpressive you are."

Abel would snort as he looked over "The Manipulative Schemer" as she smiled smugly, even going so far as to do a little pirouette for his benefit. "Honestly speaking Senpai, I feel like I'd be just a bit too much for you to handle." The rose-haired reaper would pat her on the head, thinking no better of the situation as he peeled off the jacket and white dress shirt of the uniform before trying to warm himself up. "I'm still pretty confused as to why I'm here to be honest, if it's because of the Miyabi thing then I have to specify that the damage was already done by the time I got there." His hand would go up to his neck subconsciously, he knew better than to expect any kind of scar tissue from what Satella had done to him, but it didn't stop him from feeling phantom pains from the cut.

"Really, because from what I heard Miyabi wasn't the only one who got thrashed that day!" Attia would sneer as she noticed the slightest hint of an agitated twitch in his eye as she sat on the edge of the pool, lazily letting her legs swing in the water as she calculated her next statement carefully. "Tell me, what did you hope to gain from clashing with the Untouchable Queen? This isn't a prison yard where you gain a reputation by stepping up to the biggest, baddest, bitch in the yard." She could see his muscles beginning to clench and tighten in pent up anger at that statement, she had heard stories of what had gone down on the roof but seeing just how wound up that he was becoming was fitting payback for the audacity of him patting her head the way he did.

"That's what she is after all: an uncivilized bitch who's only here because of her family connections, we've all heard the rumors of what went down when she was over at East Genetics. That poor Limiter just wanted to make her his big sister, and now because of her brutish actions that fine young man will never realize his potential."

Abel could stand no more as he stood up and made a mad dash for the smaller women, surprised to feel himself be suddenly stopped before he could touch a single silver strand of hair on her head. "Let go of me! I'm gonna break her freaking neck, stuck up bitches like you should all be thrown in the Nest!" He would continue to struggle against his captor, growling as he was thrown back up against the wall and face to face with a stone-faced Creo Brand. "What are you, her bodyguard or something!?"

The dark-skinned woman would sigh and force his arms against his chest, not even wincing as his feet continued to flail and struggle against her grip. "You've got quite a lot of energy there kid, but that hair trigger of yours is going to get you killed someday." She would glance back to find Attia staring at the ceiling and Arnett watching the scene intently, no doubt wondering if she would end this with one punch or work him over like a human heavy bag. "Like it or not you and Attia there are on the same side here, the Nova are our enemy and frankly we need every able body we can get to take up the fight!" She would sigh in relief as the anger in his eyes seemed to fade away, loosening her grip on his arms before taking a step back and watching him closely to make sure he wasn't going to try anything funny.

"I know, and I know I should feel proud that I'm the first male to be given the same abilities you all have. But that's just it, I have these powers and am just supposed to be able to stand on the same level despite only being pitted against dummy Nova and washouts from other Academies all over the world." Abel would slump down to a sitting position, staring at his hands and seeing nothing but the cuts, burns, and calluses that were the results of his training and torture inside the Devil's Nest.

"Newsflash for you froggy, that's about as much training as anybody in this room has! Do you honestly believe they'd send US out against the Nova, we may be third years but even we're not crazy enough to take on Nova by ourselves!" Arnett would say this while floating in the pool and staring up at the ceiling, she didn't usually tease newbies this much as that was usually Attia's schtick. "Truth be told, all the training in the world really can't prepare you for a real combat situation. Every time we go up against those things less and less of us come back, that's probably why somebody decided to give a tadpole like you a chance with whatever weird experiment made you."

The male Pandora would take a moment to digest what he had been told: They really were all in this same boat together, even if his sole motivation had been to stay by Satellizer's side he had been drafted into humanity's war for survival against the Nova. " _But that dream's dead now, so am I just supposed to shut up and be a good soldier now?"_ Abel would look around at the women who had brought him here, even in swimwear they were beautiful yet fierce and could probably give him a rather strenuous workout if they felt like it. He could feel the heat rush to his cheeks as his mind went to more "lewd" interpretations of this mindset before shaking his head and trying to keep a level head. "There's still one thing I don't get though, why did you bring me here? Usually when Pandora break the rules we get sent to the Brig, instead I'm here with some of the best in our school." He would look to each of them for some kind of response to his query: Creo would keep the same silent stoicism she had given him when she'd first arrived (aside from her earlier actions.), Arnett had begin swimming laps in the pool and was completely oblivious to the question, Attia simply rewarded him with another withering stare of disdain, and there had been no sign of Ingrid since he had been told to wait in the room while everyone else changed.

"You were brought here because I asked for you to be brought somewhere you would be kept out of trouble, although I see now that you'll need more then just general oversight at this rate." Abel would frown at the sudden dimming of the lights as a door on the other side of the pool opened, a brown-haired teen entered the room with a white towel draped over his shoulder while wearing the regular West Genetics uniform. "Someone in the higher ranks of this academy believes you have potential Mr. Reinhardt, although it is being squandered by your current arrangement with Parcé Ciel." The rose-haired young man would continue to frown in bewilderment, his focus was on the male who had just entered the room even as the clearly feminine voice continued to be heard.

"It's because of this viewpoint that myself and the other women here have decided to intervene, from this day forth you will be given proper lodging with my Limiter Andre, as well as proper combat training with Arnett beginning tomorrow following your regular classes." A woman with long, curly blond hair would enter the room, unlike the other women she had forgone the usual swimwear and instead entered the pool completely nude. She proceeded to swim to the other side of the pool where Abel sat, watching on with an amused smile as his cheeks flushed with embarrassment as he took in her full splendor. "I understand that this is quite the scene to take in, but I feel no shame in showing off the female form. So, you shouldn't feel ashamed to look upon me as I am now." The woman's voice was gentle enough in tone, but there was a subtle hint of command that forced the young man to meet her gaze, his blush even more apparent as she got out of the pool and approached him directly.

Abel had endured the sight of many a Pandora in the buff thanks Ciel's little mind games in Marrakesh, but this woman was on a different plane of existence in terms of beauty. It was as if God himself personally had a hand in shaping her features: From every shape and curve of her breasts and hips, to even the alluring blue of her eyes that seemed to pull him further into her spell. "I..I don't..who..are you?" It was the first question that he could manage to muster while his brain continued to seemingly implode as he looked upon her, even though a burst of laughter was heard from the pool as Arnett was no doubt enjoying his reactions.

"I'm not surprised that you haven't heard of me, it seems the good Doctor has done her best to keep you as isolated as possible." She would hold her hand to help him to his feet, smiling softly as he took it and stood up with the poise and stoicism of a soldier. "My name is Elizabeth Mably, my friends and I wish to help you break free of Parcé Ciel's cage and help you grow into the Pandora you were meant to be."

 _ **While the cat's away...**_

"What do you mean he's been released, as a member of the Marrakesh Pandora Research Branch that boy is MY responsibility!" The purple-haired woman had to fight her instinct to reach over the counter and strangle the woman on the other side of the desk, her precious research project had gone missing following the fight against Ganessa Roland and he wasn't responding to phone calls at all. "You people have zero right to move him without my say-so, I don't care if he's crying blood and spewing bile, not a damn hair on his head gets touched without MY say so!"

"WE didn't do anything." Elize Schmitz would approach the irate scientist with an electronic tablet in hand and a sour look on her face before pressing a few buttons to display security camera footage of him racing out of the infirmary like the devil was on his heels. "It seems your boy had a bad case of cabin fever, which shouldn't be an issue since I told you he was cleared to return to classes **days ago**!" The two doctors would continue to glare at one another, neither woman particularly fond of the other since the doctor from Marrakesh had arrived with her new "Pandora" in tow.

"Dammit, that little shit thinks he can just bail and not face repercussions!" Parcé would storm off to hunt down her missing ward, knowing full well where he would go upon gaining his freedom. "If I know him, that little buffoon has gone to meet with his cutthroat cunt of an older sibling. And I'll be damned if he allows his emotions are going to get in the way of my ambitions, I refuse to let that fool Gengo Aoi hog the limelight when it comes to Pandora research- not after I've managed to do what he said was nigh impossible!" The dark-skinned researcher would finally arrive at The Brig and present her identification badge to the Pandora standing guard at the gate, waiting impatiently as the gate slowly opened before continuing her furious march to find her runaway. "I want to see Satellizer L. Bridget immediately, my associate has gone missing and she may very well know where he's been!"

 _ **Keep moving forward, even if you fail...**_

The walk back to the boy's dormitory had been strangely silent as Abel still struggled to digest the information that had been relayed to him by someone who was not only a prominent Pandora in the Academy's hierarchy, but the daughter of one of the most prestigious families that were known to man.

" _Elizabeth Mably, I just met THE Elizabeth Mably! Not only that but she actually wants to teach me to be a proper Pandora, and not just teach me the "theory" behind everything."_ He would think back to the moment where she held his hand and blushed slightly, he had seen more of the woman then most men dared to dream of and yet a simple helping hand had left more of an imprint on him then the entirety of her beauty. " _She's truly something wonderful, I envy the man who gets to call himself her Limiter."_

A loud sigh would interrupt his thoughts as the young man he had met inside the pool had stopped suddenly in front of a door, the nameplate on the side read "A. Francoise" which meant that his journey had finally reached its end. "I understand that you're new here and all, but I won't stand for you thinking about Elly in such a tawdry manner. As long as we share the same dorm, I expect you to show her the same respect you'd show any other Pandora you encounter during your stay here." The young man in question would continue to give him a heated stare for a few more seconds before opening the door and stepping inside, leaving the rose-haired young man perplexed and embarrassed at his behavior. "Well, are you coming in? Or will you further disrespect my lady by refusing her generosity as well."

Abel would stifle a groan as he looked over at the nameplate and put two and two together before cautiously stepping inside, remembering that Elizabeth had made it clear what his living arrangements were to be. "Andre-senpai, can I ask you something?" He would wince when he received nothing but silence in return for his question, so instead he would focus on how best to deal with his new environment. Especially when it came to sleep. " _I don't have the right to deprive a man of his own bed, and we're not on nice enough terms to sleep back to back!_

"If it's about your belongings, they should be here within an hour. Rest assured Elly would never go back on her word: you will be given reprieve from that witch's cage, a proper education, and anything else you deem necessary..within reason." Andre's eyes would narrow as he finished speaking, clearly still chafing from his perceived lewd imagination. "And you don't have to refer to me as "Senpai", as a Pandora you technically outrank me."

Abel would shake his head as he took a seat at the small writing desk in the room, staring down at the fine wooden desk while trying to avoid further cementing himself on the other man's shit list. "I just wanted to ask you how you would react if Elizabeth-senpai turned out to be totally different from the person you've come to know now." He tried his best to keep his thoughts away from Satellizer following the stunt he pulled on the roof, but flashes of their time together still managed to seep in from time to time. "The only reason I agreed to the experiments that made me a Pandora was to protect someone I cared about, I came here to West Genetics hoping to reunite with her but..when we finally met up again, I found that she had become such a different person and now I have no idea how to proceed with my life." Once again, he would be given silence for an answer, wondering how he would apologize for thinking about a woman who (by her own admission) shamelessly walked, swam, and talked to him while naked as the day she was born.

"I'm afraid I can't speak for your situation Abel, but I can confidently say that I know Elly well enough to know when she's lying. It's one of the perks of serving her as closely as I have over these years, it's how I could tell how determined she was to see you become something more than a weapon." Andre would smirk as he noticed the rose-haired Pandora's head twitch in response to his words, there was no doubt that her actions had left a mark on him on more then just the most primal level. "The only advice I can offer you is that instead of despairing over what happened with this girl, you should move forward and blaze a new path of your own. No more witchy scientists, no more ungrateful mystery women." Before he could further elaborate on the advice that he was trying to give, a knock on the door would get his attention. "Ah, it appears we'll need to put this conversation on hold. I believe your belongings have finally arrived."

 ** _The blind chasing the blind_**

Parcé would glower at the petulant blonde-haired Pandora that was seated in front of her, getting an equally hate-filled stare in return as she played back the security footage from the infirmary once again. "Just tell me where he is Satellizer, I know that idiot would come to see you even after everything you did to him." The researcher would watch the woman's face for some sign of recognition, the Abel she knew was foolishly loyal to the sister he remembered- there was nowhere else he could possibly go! "Dammit woman, stop being such a proud bitch and spit it out! I don't care who your family is, there's no hiding him from me! He's valuable research property!" She would slam her palms down on the table, roaring furiously in a vain attempt to intimidate her

The Untouchable Queen would stare at the frustrated female standing before her, barely batting an eyelash as she closed her eyes on reminisced on two different young men who had influenced her time at West Genetics in vastly different ways. "I have no idea where your stupid pet project is, even if he were crazy enough to visit me I would have him turned away unless I get an answer on why he has that ring!" Satellizer would keep quiet about her interactions with Kazuya, the only man whose touch had brought warmth to her heart where only fear had resided for the longest time. "Now leave me alone, and don't bother asking to see me again after this. I only want to serve out the remainder of my sentence in piece: No more bible stories, no more of your deranged interrogations. No more thinking about an imaginary savior with a sapphire ring."

Parcé would rake her fingers through her hair in frustration at the woman's continued stubbornness, breaking into a bitter laugh as she stared at the obstinate Pandora in disgust. "You pathetic little child, I did everything short of blurting out the answer and you still don't understand the bigger picture." She would pick up her tablet and key up Abel's personal profile, complete with his true last name and his connection to the foolish girl sitting across from her. "So be it, continue wallowing in your arrogance. You damned Bridget's are all narrowly focused on your singular goals: Your father and his infidelity, you and your need to remain isolated, your **brother**..with his disgusting need to feel accepted and loved." The research would dismiss Abel's file and proceed to leave the interrogation room, too infuriated to notice that the proximity alarm that she had set up in the dorm that Sister Margaret assigned to them had been tripped while she was away.

 ** _I honestly forgot how fun writing a fanfic could be, luckily for me this particular story always felt like less of an obligation and more of a treasure to write. I discovered Freezing thanks to an ex sending me a sweet little care package on my b-day, the cover of the blu-ray alone was enough to pique my interest. So I watched it, and I fell in love with the story._**

 ** _Even when other shows let me down, I always turned back to Freezing and watched as much as I needed to until things got better._**

 ** _To my mysterious Guest reviewer, thanks for poking and prodding me to get back on this. Hope I'm making you proud._**


	11. Heavy Is The Crown II

_**This chapter was a god damn nightmare to write!**_

The next morning saw the beginning of something different for Abel Reinhardt as he stared up at the ceiling of his new dorm, he would blink a few times to clear the haziness of his vision before sitting up. " _I'm way too used to the doc's busywork, I keep expecting to hear her curse about her calculations."_ The rose-haired Pandora would look around his new lodgings, surprised to find a fresh uniform waiting for him along with a handwritten note. " _I guess this means that yesterday wasn't some messed up dream. Elizabeth Mably has really reached out to me and offered to make me into something more than a lab rat, something like that doesn't come without a steep price tag."_ He would sigh and look down at the sapphire ring on his finger and mutter a prayer before finally getting himself out of bed and checking the note with a concerned expression on his face, worried that he had only traded one taskmistress for another of an admittedly superior pedigree.

 **A proper West Genetics uniform for a proper West Genetics student, let this be your first step towards leaving "The Nest" behind**.

The note was left unsigned but judging by the fact that the uniform had been left in the room as well as Andre not being anywhere in sight left little doubt as to who was responsible for this little gift. "I feel like I'm being buttered up to." Abel would sigh and head for the shower, determined to act like a proper student and attend his classes on time.

 ** _Siblings in Name, Family by Choice_**

" _I did everything short of blurting out the answer and you still don't see the bigger picture!"_ Those words had been gnawing at the Untouchable Queen throughout her less than fruitful sleep on the stiff bed in her cell, her interactions with the Pandora researcher had often left her with more questions then when she came in with. "First; there was the questions about my family, that was where she first brought forth the hints of another sibling besides the two she already knew of. "Then there was that bible story: Cain and Abel." The blonde-haired Pandora would reflect on the story as she showered under the watchful eye of a couple of Chevalier Pandora, since Louis had exhibited some tendencies of a vengeful sibling over the course of their time together that slot had been sufficiently filled.

"Time's up move it along!" The closest Chevalier Pandora would bark suddenly, distracting Satellizer as she slowly pieced things together in her mind and quickly wrapped a towel around her waist as she made her way out of the shower room to change. "I don't care if today is your last day with us here little rich girl, twice in the same month is really pushing my nerves!"

She paid the other woman's hate-filled words no mind as she continued to try and connect the threads to this annoying situation that had taken root in her mind, there was a second brother resting somewhere in her memories. " _That ring, I've seen that sapphire ring since then."_ Satellizer would think back to the incident with the third year known as Miyabi, moving past the more "unsavory" events and seeing the familiar flash of sapphire once again. This time, it would be attached to the hand of a Limiter with oddly-colored hair and the ability to wield a Volt Weapon.

" _Satella! I wish I could tell you everything that happened when I was sent away!"_ He had used that name, her special name that was only known to herself, her long dead mother, and her step-sister Violet. Another piece of information that was bothering her was the mention of being "sent away". Were they living together at some point in their lives? It would explain why she remembered a flash of sapphire on that horrible night, a literal glimmer of hope in what was her darkest hour.

" _Is it possible that I attacked my own brother, even as he tried to reconnect with me?"_ The Untouchable Queen reached back to the rooftop one last time: Thanks to Kazuya Aoi's Freezing ability she had been able to get some much needed retribution against Miyabi's Limiters and even crush their cell phones (which held less than flattering images of her) before turning on the Limiter Eater herself, Kazuya had tried to reach out to her in an attempt to keep her finishing off the third year herself. " _But I wouldn't listen, and because of my own anger…"_ Satellizer could see the moment clearly, the familiar clanging sound of metal striking metal as she looked ahead to see a young man with rose-colored hair wielding a scythe and doing his best to keep her from doing critical damage to Miyabi.

" _Why did you try to stop me? She's no better then Louis and yet you defend her!"_ She remembered shoving him back against the fence with an Accelerating Turn, but rather then being afraid of what was going to happen, he continued to reach out to her. " _Stop pleading with me and defend yourself!"_ Her gaze would fall to the sapphire ring, the symbol of a brave young man who wanted to save his sibling above all else. If Louis was the vengeful and vindictive Cain in this twisted little tale, then the Limiter with the sapphire ring could only have one role to play…

 ** _Insert obligatory "But it was me, Dio!" joke here_**

"Abel! You're back!" He would look around curiously as he stood in the crowded Burger Queen line; it wasn't every day that he would resort to paying for food when the academy provided five-star cuisine, but sometimes a guy just wanted a goddamn hamburger after days of nothing but hospital food. "Over here! Abel!" The rose-haired young man would literally have to stand on his toes to see over the crowd, but he would see an overjoyed Ticy Phenyl waving him over to sit with her.

" _I guess my apology made it to her safely, despite the slightly creepy messenger."_ Abel tried in vain to fight off a shudder as he remembered the Pandora Who Smiles, feeling slightly less hungry as he neared the front of the line. " _Gah! Don't think about her, just focus on the fact that you're finally gonna be able to finally set things right with Ticy-Senpai!"_ He would quickly place his order at the register while trying to think of a good apology for having to push her away, especially seeing as Elizabeth and her associates had essentially made the same offer-which he had come to accept.

"Sounds like you're in for quite the enjoyable little lunch date there Froggy, too bad that you forgot that we already made plans together." Arnett would snake her hands around his waist and lean in close to whisper into his ears, to the outside observer it would look like the two were a lot more intimate then their respective roles implied. "You made a deal in order to get stronger remember, and since classes are done for the day..you're gonna be in my care until dinner time." Her breath would hit the nape of his neck in such a way that he would shudder visibly, the hair on the back of neck would stand at attention.

"I..I haven't forgotten our deal, but I'm curious Senpai: What're you gonna do about Parcé, I doubt she's gonna let her prized lab rat run around unmonitored, with non-friendly Pandora." The rose-haired Limiter knew the egotistical researcher well enough to suspect that she had some sort of tracking device on his person, maybe even in the one item he treasured more than anything. "She's not gonna take your relocating me without throwing a hissy fit, even if it's at Elizabeth-senpai's request." He would try to wriggle free of the Slashing Trickster's grasp, surprised to find that despite her lithe physique she had him trapped and at her mercy as she guided him away from the Burger Queen line and past a more than surprised Ticy and Chiffon.

"O-oh, I didn't know you and Abel were acquainted Arnett." The raven-haired Pandora would look from her fellow third year to the young man with a mixture of disappointment and confusion, while the still-smiling Chiffon said nothing as the pair made their way outside. "Since when does Arnett get that chummy with someone who isn't Morrison? It just doesn't add up, the way she was all over him like that!" Ticy would huff indignantly as she stared at the empty seat next to her, once again robbed of a chance to further interact with the transfer student.

Chiffon would stay silent despite her growing concern over Ticy's attachment to Marrakesh's dirty little secret, a crowded lunch room was not the kind of environment for this conversation.

 ** _Sometimes a miracle is all you can really hope for_**

"Alright Satellizer, your week here is up." Instructor Yu-Mi's voice would be a signal for the blonde-haired Pandora to finally get to the bottom of this situation involving the boy with the sapphire ring, hopefully even get to the bottom of things with Kazuya Aoi after all is said and done. "You should consider yourself exceedingly fortunate that Doctor Ciel saw fit to ask the Marrakesh officials to show you leniency, otherwise you would have had your Stigmata removed and your ass shipped back home!" The two women would lock eyes for the briefest of moments, before the Untouchable Queen decided to put the cell behind her once again.

"You shouldn't trust that woman." Satellizer would frown as she remembered the last time she encountered the Pandora researcher and ball a fist at the words she had used to describe the rose-haired Pandora in question, if he truly was her brother then he had taken some very drastic steps to ensure that he could protect her. "Anyone who would refer to someone risking their life to fighting the Nova as an "idiot", as well as treating them like a piece of property aren't worth giving an open ear to."

The well-endowed veteran would chuckle quietly as she glanced back at the younger woman, amused at how concerned she sounded for a fellow Pandora given her recent actions. "By that logic, I shouldn't even be allowing you to leave this cell..and yet here you are, walking out without consequence." She would sigh quietly as she hesitated to choose her words carefully, not wanting to poke the proverbial bear if she could help it. "That boy, he's certainly a walking miracle, isn't he?"

Satellizer would say nothing as she marched out of the Brig, ignoring the hawkish gaze of her jailers as she stepped out into the light of day for the first time in a long time.

" _The word "Miracle" doesn't even come close to describing him. He's survived things that most people wouldn't dare to speak of, which makes me wonder why he would willingly to choose to live this life."_ She could feel the sting of tears at the corner of her eyes, surprised that she could feel empathy for another person after so much time in self-imposed solitude.

 ** _Reality bites, as do Mad Dogs._**

Abel and Arnett would be walking to the training center as other people were making plans for the rest of the day, the former was still fuming at being walked out like a toddler while being strangely aroused at her behavior.

"Alright Little Frog, we're gonna run you through the basics: Acceleration, Tempest Turns, then some basic one-on-one with Volt Weapons so I can see just what kind of handling you've got on that mother." The redhead would give him an impish grin as they neared the facility, wondering how many slashes he could endure before passing out. "I expect you to go all out from the start, if I even **think** you're short-changing me then I will shove the pole of my Scythe Machina up your ass and literally mop the floor with you!" A few of the Pandora walking out of the training center would shoot her a dirty look, even as she would lick her lips like a hungry lioness as they entered the facility and booked one of the few open spots for them to practice in.

" _As attractive as Arnett-Senpai is, I'm starting to feel like she's got a few screws loose."_ Abel would calmly take a breath and look toward the door, wondering if it were even possible to outrun the woman before she could make good on her threat of making him a human mop. " _And then what? Crawl back to the Doc on my hands and knees like a bitch before she flies us back to The Nest, still an untrained mess and just as miserable!"_ He would ball his fists tightly and look back to see Arnett watching him intently, no doubt she was looking for any sign of weakness in her new little plaything.

"Good to see the little frog has some fight in him, it'd be a shame if this all turned out to be a huge waste of my time." Arnett would grin maliciously as she reached out and grabbed him by the collar and picked him up off the ground, the Swiss-born woman's amber eyes would shine with a warrior's madness as she continued to give her temporary protégé her own sort of inspection. "Ooh, I like that look in your eyes. Such a fire that I can't wait to snuff out!"

Abel would grit his teeth angrily as she continued to tighten her grip, hushed whispers of concern starting to erupt around them even as he replaced Arnett's face with Satellizer's. "You're both the same, like damned mad dogs who think that violence is the only answer!" He would snarl as the rose-colored aura began to seep free once again, the disappointment he had felt earlier was turning to rage as he kicked himself free of Arnett's grip and readied himself to fight. "Volt weapon-" Abel would gasp in pain as the redhead drove her knee into his stomach, causing him to stumble back in agony.

"You're jumping too soon Little Frog, you're trying to run when you can barely crawl." Arnett would glare at him harshly before deciding to look around at the crowd that had gathered around the two of them. "Every one of the women here could fight circles around you, and while I appreciate the rose-colored theatrics, that isn't gonna mean shit when you're deep in the shit of a Nova attack." She would turn away and start making her way past the crowd, walking towards the changing area with a purposeful stride.

" _Damn, I really_ _ **don't**_ _know anything about being a Pandora."_ Abel would slowly stare at the sapphire ring on his finger, usually he would feel strength and safety when he gazed upon the gift that Violet had given him. But for the first time in the years since he had placed the ring on his finger, he felt a deep sense of shame towards himself. " _I keep blaming Parcé for holding me back, but what if it's been my own goddamn fault this whole time!?"_ The rose-haired Pandora would slowly slide the ring free of his finger, echoes of his beloved sister flashing through his mind as the metal band moved closer to his empty palm until the images seemed to shatter like broken glass as he placed the ring in his pocket.

His face would be one of grim determination as he walked toward the changing area, he would walk this new path being given to him at any cost.

 _ **As one sibling begins to look toward the idea of accepting family and using it as a source of strength, the other seeks to break free, believing it to be his greatest weakness.**_


	12. Heavy Is The Crown III

_**I swear to God "Guest" you and me are going to have a looong talk someday!**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I don't own Freezing, if I did I'd be having a word with Funimation as to why we're filed under the "Fanservice" genre on their streaming service.**_

Abel would be standing alone in the changing room, his ring finger already feeling out of sorts due to the absence of his keepsake ring as he shed his clothing (apart from his unmentionables) and took a calming breath as he tried to keep Arnett's icy threat from completely breaking his resolve.

 _"I expect you to go all out from the start, if I even_ _ **think**_ _you're short-changing me then I will shove the pole of my Scythe Machina up your ass and literally mop the floor with you!"_

He would shake his head aggressively as he closed his eyes and equipped his volt texture, frowning as he saw the blatant emblem for the Marrakesh Academy in his reflection before forcing it to match the one for West Genetics.

"So, the rumors are true, there really is a boy with the abilities of a Pandora in our fair Academy." The rose-haired reaper would stifle a groan as he saw Miyabi enter the room, a predatory smile on her face as he tried to resist lunging at her like some rabid hound. "Hmm, first the boy with the ability to cast a Freezing field sans Ereinbar Set and now you."

The male Pandora would try to ignore the bile creeping up his throat as the woman tried to undress him with her eyes, almost as if she had forgotten that she already had a trio of willing hyenas more than willing to kick his ass for the mere crime of bumping into her on his first day of classes.

"Well gee Senpai; as much as I'd like to keep standing here while you metaphorically fellate me over my ONLY merit, Arnett's waiting for me, so we can begin our training and I can actually be something more than the product of some science experiment." He would sigh as he slammed the locker door shut and turned to walk past her, his anger serving to remind him of just how little he mattered once the initial shock of **what** he was had worn off. "Do try to have a pleasant day MA'AM!" Abel could feel the rage boiling up once again, wanting to break free and rampage like back in the old days. But he would just keep marching forward, determined to make something of these stigmata that had been given to him.

"Hmph, and here I was planning to show you the proper gratitude for saving a woman of my stature. Especially since someone as wound up seems to need the release." Her voice would lower to a husky tone as she stepped forward to follow him as he stopped mid-step, while the Releaser of Chastity had failed to claim Kazuya Aoi as one of her boys (epically so) she wasn't about to settle for a second morsel getting away because of his pent-up aggressions. "I saw the way you tried to reach out to that insufferable woman even as you tried your best to protect me." She would sigh lamentably as she draped her arms over his shoulders to pull him closer to her, even being so bold as to nibble on his earlobe playfully despite feeling his body tense up like a coiled serpent. "You deserve to be treated like the fine specimen of a man you are, to be given the proper respect that someone who was so willing to put their life on the line for a stranger is owed."

Abel would stay silent as the blue-haired temptress continued to nibble and nip upon his lobe without hesitation or care if someone were to walk in on the two of them, while his body certainly seemed to enjoy the slight charges of pleasure that he received from her actions. His mind was already cycling through the various methods of escape from the changing room, knowing that with each passing second that Arnett was thinking up some horrible (and most likely painful) way of educating him to be a proper Pandora.

"Miyabi-Senpai, there's something that's been bugging me about that whole kerfuffle on the roof." The rose-haired young man proceeded to turn into her embrace, even going so far as to nuzzle her ample bosom affectionately. An action which the woman rewarded by petting the top of his head as she made something resembling a purring cat, seemingly pleased at his sudden change of attitude. "Why exactly were you and the boys up there on the roof with the Untouchable Queen? It just feels mighty awkward that a third year would go so far as to invoke violence against their juniors, I mean..none of the third years that I've met anyhow." He could feel Miyabi tense up in response to his question, but it was a momentary crack in whatever façade she was attempting to pull on him as she continued running her fingers through his hair.

"Sweetheart; you have to understand that there's a hierarchy around here: We third years have to keep our juniors in line, lest they get too uppity and try to outshine their betters. I mean, if that type of mindset were to trickle down into the first years it would be chaos." She would try to keep her voice even as her petting seemed to settle down to the point of just smoothing down the odd cowlick here and there, she needed to keep her pet placated until she had time to grant him his proper blessing and add him to her ranks. "Now imagine that kind of dissention in the midst of a Nova attack, the loss of so many innocent lives, the destruction that would result from all of all trying to upstage one another? It'd be downright scandalous!"

He knew that she was lying, the way that Elize had relayed the story back to him via Miss Yu-Mi (who had heard it from Satellizer herself) that the Limiter Eater had instigated everything from the get go, and while his sibling's actions may have threaded the lines of self-defense, Miyabi wouldn't have survived without his own intervention.

"Well Senpai, you've definitely given me a bit of food for thought." Abel would calmly pull himself free of the woman's embrace and take a few steps back from her, part of him really wanted to carve the third year up like a Christmas ham, but he still had a very rough day ahead of him thanks to Arnett and he had to hoof it to the training room if he wanted to avoid a severe ass kicking.

" _I won't be like Satella, it's better to work with the upper classmen and learn from them. They have the kind of experience that a newbie like me can benefit from, and I'll take any opportunity I can get to do things my way."_ Abel would start to break out into a run, the thought of Arnett and the others giving him a proper education seemed like the first step to finally walking a path of his own choosing.

 _ **Daydreams can take you anywhere and everywhere**_

Ticy would frown in thought as the minutes from the last Student Council meeting were read aloud, it was perhaps the most dull and monotonous part of their meetings and she wanted desperately to tune it out.

Unfortunately; doing so meant that her thoughts tended to drift toward the situation with Abel once again. A habit that was quickly becoming a noticeable issue with those closest to her.

" _It just doesn't add up, Arnett's a member of Elizabeth's group..what would they want with a transfer like Abel?"_ It bothered her that she felt some sort of jealousy when she already had a very special Abel all her own, but she had a responsibility to make sure that he was looked after until things settled down enough for him to find some sense of normalcy. " _That mad Doctor, trying to deal with the Untouchable Queen, and now he's involved with Elizabeth and her people?"_

"Vice President Phenyl, we need a deciding vote on the budget for the Pandora Queen contest!" Ticy would snap back to reality to see the other members of the student council looking at her with a myriad of expressions, leading the raven-haired Pandora to look the proposed budget sheet over for the essentials. "Well, I think it looks solid. Nothing looks too over bloated or wasteful, I say it should pass through!" She would give a bright smile hoping to ease the feeling of unease permeating throughout the room, although judging by the hushed whispers of the other girls it seemed less than successful.

"Vice-President Phenyl, I'd like to speak with you once today's meeting has been adjourned." Chiffon's voice would be firm and commanding, the kind of tone that she usually took when it was time to drop the smile and let the monster inside rip loose. "I think you and I both know what we'll be discussing, and this conversation is long overdue." Ticy would do her best to let the severity of the situation get to her as she gulped audibly, even as all eyes seemed to fall on her like a prisoner walking the gallows.

 _ **Woah, here she comes. Watch out boy, she'll fuck you up!**_

"What the hell are you doing?!" The pole of Arnett's Volt Weapon would strike true, sending an already frazzled Abel tumbling to the ground as he dry heaved before slowly getting back to his feet and looking at her with an angry glare. The redhead would run over and deliver a stiff knee to his face before dispelling her Scythe Machina and cracking her knuckles loudly, deliberately taking her time to deliver on the beatdown she promised. "First, you try to step up to me with your little temper tantrum outside of the training hall. Then you decide to make ME wait here by myself like a complete idiot while you take your time getting ready, what were you doing that entire time? Hiding in a locker and rubbing one out every time a girl showed up like some pre-pubescent little asshole?!" The Slashing Trickster would stand tall over the male Pandora before mounting the startled young man and delivering the type of punches reserved for the heavy bag.

"Fuck you! The only reason I got held up was because of that fucking succubus Miyabi!" He would growl and grab her uniform by its scruff and deliver a headbutt to her chin, tearing pieces of her top off as she fell back, and he scrambled to his feet and called his own scythe into existence before spitting blood from his busted lip. "That twat tried to spin a story about needing to "reward" me for saving her from Sat- the Untouchable Queen! Damned idiot doesn't realize that her tongue was made for only one good use and it ain't lying!" He would bring down the blade of his Sangré Rosa only to hit nothing but the floor before feeling the cold bite of steel at his neck, she had him dead to rights after one Accel before he could really get going and they both knew it.

"So, you made me wait while you got a "happy ending" from one of the loosest Pandora in this place? You know she's called the "Limiter Eater" for a reason right, she goes through first year boys the way they go through Kleenex on a cold, lonely night!" Arnett would dig the point of her scythe into his neck, surprised to hear not a single whimper of pain from her victim as she drew blood. "Well, I hope her polishing your knob was worth the trip to heaven because I'm about to drag you down to hell!"

The rose-haired Pandora would slam his elbow into her ribs before trying to Accel away from the woman in question, proceeding to slam himself into the wall and start seeing literal stars. "Ugh, that wasn't supposed to happen." He would do his best to shake the cobwebs loose from his mind and focus on the battle at hand, turning just in time to see the redhead licking his blood clean from her weapon. "I'm not some dumb horn dog, yeah Miyabi tried to butter me up but here's a newsflash: Marrakesh is full of "Miyabi's", each one more than willing to spread their legs to get an advantage over the rest of the group. I didn't let myself get greased up back then and I damn sure didn't do it now!" Abel would snarl and charge at the Slashing Trickster with nothing but piss and vinegar for the situation he had found himself in, surprised to see that she hadn't so much as moved a single hair out of the way before feeling a searing pain in his back before hacking up blood.

"There you go again, jumping in way too quickly before realizing just how deep the shit you're standing in really goes." Arnett would smirk as he tried to come at her once again, although this time he would be smart enough to feint and roll to the side to try and avoid her attack. "I bet you're probably wondering how you still got hit after pulling such a boneheaded evasion technique like that one, well little frog? Certainly, you've been given the rundown on how Acceleration works." The sadistic Pandora would chuckle as she watched his hamster wheel of a brain figure things out, if she were just a little bit crazier then her panties might have gotten moist.

"Yeah, I get how it involves pushing the Stigmata in our bodies to get a crazy boost of speed. The Doc told me once that using it like that could tear me apart bit by bit, but training's training and I forced myself to push past the agony and learn a proper Accel turn..but the one time I tried a Double, my leg felt like it was gonna shatter to pieces by the time I hit the interval and lead into the second." He looked down at his right leg with some hesitation before readying his scythe for another round. "I don't care if it takes me a thousand years and turns my bones to pulp, I'm going to become a true Pandora and fight the Nova! I'm going to prove to everyone here that I'm more than just some token lab rat for Ciel's little pseudo-science fair, I **will** become better than the stupid harpies back at Marrakesh and shove it back in their dick snorkeling faces!"

Arnett couldn't help but lick her lips at the thought of her and Scythe Machina being able to carve up such a willing participant, even as a tiny voice deep down seemed to admire his courage to throw himself into the fires of the forge just to come out stronger.

"Well then Little Frog, show me just how far you can jump!" She would let out a hysterical cackle of glee before charging into the fray against him, Abel would roar defiantly as he lead with his own scythe.

 _ **The best and worst part of being a parent is having to watch your kids leave the nest.**_

Ticy would sigh as she faced her friend and comrade in the now empty Student Council meeting room, knowing full well that she was in for quite the lecture.

"Ticy, you know that I appreciate how much work you put in for me. And I don't just mean what you do with the Student Council, you were the one that I came to when we had two transfer students coming in on the same day." Chiffon would go quiet as she noticed the hesitant expression on the raven-haired Pandora's face, hating that she had to be the one to lay down the law on her friend. "You've more than accomplished your role in helping our dear Abel acclimate to West Genetics, and yet you've still seen fit to try and insert yourself into his everyday activities." Her smile had slowly faded into a worried frown as she saw her eyes well up with tears, deciding to keep the remainder of her words to herself.

"Chiffon, I know that I'm probably pressing the line in how closely I look after Abel but considering what he must have been put through before getting to us? I can't imagine what that witch of a woman could've done to him!" West Genetics Silent Thief would look at her fellow third year as she remembered just how harshly the woman had treated him from the moment she had met the pair, smacking him to keep his attention, speaking of him as if the male Pandora were simply a malfunctioning machine while he was fighting for life inside the operating room of their infirmary. "And now he's hanging out with Elizabeth's group, you know what they're like!" While not actively having interacted with Elizabeth Mably and her ilk personally, it was common knowledge that they were the ones responsible for keeping the second years in line by any means necessary.

"Yes, I'm aware of how Elizabeth likes to keep things running smoothly. It's one of the reasons why I suggested that Sister Margaret ask her to take in our dear little runaway after that incident with Satellizer." Chiffon could feel the sting of betrayal coming from her dearest friend, she knew that there was a possibility of such a thing happening but had to risk it. "You've done a good job momma bird, but it's time to let your little hatchling fly on his own now." The Smiling Monster would watch as her friend stared down at the desk the pair were sitting at, Chiffon was at a loss for how crushed the other woman felt..especially considering how loyal her own Abel was.

"Maybe you're right, I guess he'll be fine on his own now. I mean there's no way Elizabeth would let that quack of a scientist anywhere near Abel after this, and maybe now he could find a girl all his own now." Ticy would do her best to put on a happy face, even though she was far from elated at the prospect of another girl being the one to make her friend smile.

 _ **Pain is just a four letter word for: you're not fucking trying hard enough!**_

Acceleration was still a great source of pain for him, his Stigmata screaming at him to learn his place and keep from ascending to a realm not meant for people like him. The Slashing Trickster was pushing him to master the use of Accel Turn without an interval, a dangerous prospect for a Pandora with normal Stigmata let alone experimental ones like his.

"Don't you quit on me now Little Frog, I know you can do this. Now push through that goddamn wall already!" Her voice still had a commanding tone to it, but she knew the kind of agony that the male Pandora was feeling. Trying to pull off a double Accelerating Turn without the interval required a tremendous amount of focus and energy, it was a habit for most of the beginners to fall back into the interval state before attempting the second Acceleration and defeating the whole point of "no interval.". "You know how to handle this, just close your eyes and listen to your body. Let the Stigmata tell you wat they need, just trust your instincts and the rest will follow."

Abel would nod and take a calming breath; the rose-colored Aura was still at a simmering outline as he focused his senses and felt the hum of his Stigmata permeating throughout his body and readying his body for what would come next.

" _Shut everything out, let your body lead the way and you'll finally get the hang of this."_ His mind would fill with visions of his past times hanging out with Violet, standing up to Louis, and bonding with a younger Satellizer. " _I am more then just some charity child, I will surpass the low expectations and_ _ **make**_ _them acknowledge me!"_ His body would blaze in pain as he started the Acceleration again, feeling himself smash through those happy memories like a rock through a plate glass window before feeling the second Acceleration carry him through into the light of a new day.

"Ha! So this little froggy does have some spring in his jump after all, you realize what you just did right?" Abel would be breathing heavily as he felt Arnett's hands on his shoulders, even as his gaze was firmly on her chest as he was too afraid to lift his head. "See something ya like?"

The rose-haired Pandora would gulp audibly before looking the third-year woman in her eyes, his cheeks flushing visibly before letting himself smile. "And what would happen if I told you I did, you gonna hit me again?" The redhead would shake her head and sigh tiredly before pushing him back, although there was a hint of a smirk on her face as she straightened out his uniform.

"I could hit you, and I'm pretty sure Attia would have a field day when it comes to disciplining you if I were to tell her about this." She would lean in close to his ear and chuckle impishly, knowing that adrenaline and proximity were one hell of a dangerous social cocktail. "But honestly, I think it's just going to be a lot more fun sending you back to Elizabeth with a case of blue balls and watching you try to explain yourself." The Trickster would slip past him and make her way back to the changing room, making sure to deliberately sway her hips in a way to taunt his libido one final time.

"Damn, they sure don't make them like her over in Marrakesh."

 ** _Uhh, you guys do remember that there is a poll y'all can vote in right?_**

 ** _Seriously though, this chapter was a nuisance to write: I literally had to crack open one of the manga volumes to get the gist of how a double NON-INTERVAL Accel works, and even then I'm still questioning the words I have written._**

 ** _I get that you guys want more from this series, and believe me i want to give you my best. But i'm typing this with a busted up shoulder, in the midst of a bad depression spell, and forcing my way through writer's block with less then a month before college classes start up._**

 ** _But that's enough from behind the curtain, i'm going to bed._**


	13. A Reason To Belong

_**Many painful dentist appointments, a not-so Merry Christmas, and a bunch of other miscellaneous crap later. I give you all a much deserved update**_

 _ **Disclaimer: I just own the damn OC's**_

Abel would stop by his shared dorm room with Andre to take an extra cold shower before going to see Elizabeth like he usually did, his aching legs finding some solace in the act even as his mind raced following his training with Arnett.

" _Geez, why is it that every Pandora I meet tries to get some kind of a rise out of me?"_ Flashes of his embrace with Miyabi, Elizabeth, and even instructor Yu-Mi served to further agitate his already mindset as the rose-haired young man tried to calm himself down. " _Satellizer tries to kill me, I get jumped by that bitch Ganessa, and then there's the one that never stops smiling!"_ Thinking of that enigmatic Pandora was enough to put the proverbial wet blanket on Abel's fired up libido and give him some much needed respite as he leaned his forehead against the wall of the shower.

"There's only been one Pandora who's genuinely been kind to me is Ticy-Senpai, she had zero reason to keeping looking out for me after we touched down..yet that's exactly what she chose to do." Abel would smile wistfully as he remembered their conversation on the helicopter ride to Beacon, the way she blushed we he had made a pass at her, as well as how she looked at him on that first day of class. Her expression was one of warmth and optimism, even with a box of donuts in hand for his hungry appetite. "Come to think of it, I've barely spoken to her since that day in the infirmary." He would sigh sadly as he recalled her heartfelt plea to escape the doctor's thumb and be his own man, only for him to refuse her out of fear for the mad scientist's repercussions,

" _It's not that I don't appreciate Ticy trying to save my bacon. Hell, if anything I adore her for trying!"_ He would sigh in frustration as the cold water forced him into some form of semi-consciousness as he looked down at the fading burn marks on his legs, it was bad enough that his leg muscles burned like he had dared to run throughout the campus in his sleep, there were also the welts where his Stigmata were located. " _I guess I should be grateful that I'm still able to walk after what Arnett-Senpai put me through, though yesterday was the first time that I was able to pull off a Double Accel, and without an interval to boot!"_ Abel would feel his chest swell with pride at the fact that he had taken the first of many steps in his growth as a Pandora, despite Parcé's many warnings and threats about going against her heavily calculated and measured plans.

A knock on the door would diffuse the elation he was feeling as he calmly turned the cold water off and stepped out of the shower, wrapping a towel around his waist as he shook the water from his hair like a street cur before opening the door. "Geez Andre, if you're worried about me using all of the hot water then you can chillax." The rose-haired young man would flash a smug smile as he stepped outside of the bathroom to find out that it was not Elizabeth's loyal half demanding his attention, but the Slashing Trickster herself waiting on him. "A-Arnett Senpai, I figured you would be relaxing after today's training. I mean..we did work pretty hard-" His words would be interrupted as she tossed a handful of clothes at him.

" **You** worked hard, I didn't really do much besides kick your ass and push you to try harder. Half the instructors here do that and do it a lot harsher than I can." The red-haired woman would give a smirk as he looked at her with a baffled expression, almost as if she enjoyed teasing him in such a tawdry way. "Didn't anyone teach you that it's rude to keep a lady waiting?"

Abel would blush slightly before putting on a smirk of his own and giving her a saucy wink. "Oh, is there a lady here? Because you sure fooled me Senpai." The male Pandora would backpedal as the third-year flung a shoe in his direction as the door closed behind him, Abel doing his best before laughing quietly and slowly getting dressed despite the pain in his legs making itself more apparent. " _Like the old saying goes: No pain no gain."_

 _ **When you need a helping hand, just call on me.**_

Satellizer would be pacing her own dorm room as she debated whether to reach out to her adoptive family, this whole debacle over a long-lost brother was becoming more of an issue as she thought back on her various run-ins with the annoying scientist that accompanied him.

" _If anyone has the answer to all of this, it would probably be Violet..but then again would she really be willing to talk about him after what happened that night?"_ A shudder of fear would ripple through her body as flashes of that night began to play out again, but she would banish them as quickly as they would come. " _Even if she doesn't, I have to know the truth about him!"_

Satellizer would look at the antique phone sitting on her nightstand while taking a calming breath, she had an affinity for finding and collecting the once-valued devices that she had made it into something of a hobby whenever she had free time off the campus.

The dial tone on the other end would feel like the tolling of a church bell, a signal that her normally isolated lifestyle would change and that may even result in her having to face her forgotten sibling.

"L Bridget residence, Violet speaking" Hearing her sister's voice on the other end brought with it a seldom remembered feeling of comfort for the blonde-haired Pandora, she was one of the few people in that place who cared for her well-being and wasn't afraid to show it despite Olivia's very blatant shows of contempt towards Satellizer and her own mother. " _Hello? Is anyone there?"_

"Hello Violet, I..I know it's been a while since we last spoke but-" Her voice would trail off as she found herself once again hesitating at the prospect of finally getting the answers she sought, it was as if she were standing at the door of a great truth and second guessing her very decision to open it. " _What if I'm wrong about this? What if he isn't my brother and that strange woman is just trying to goad me into fighting her little experiment?"_

"Satella, is that you? My goodness, I haven't heard from you since Miss Noelle's passing." The Untouchable Queen would wince at the mention of her deceased mother was still a sore spot for her, even though Violet had been one of the few people who had attended the funeral that followed. "How have you been? Are your studies going well? Did any cute Limiters finally catch your eye?"

The last question was the one that caught her for a loop as flashes of Kazuya Aoi danced through her mind, he too had proven to be a very perplexing distraction to her once isolated routine at West Genetics.

Although for much different reasons.

"Y-yes I'm perfectly fine. My studies are progressing well enough and I'm not even going to dignify that last one with a response." Satellizer huffed in annoyance as her older sibling simply giggled in reply to what she'd heard. As much as she appreciated Violet's sisterly kindness in those bygone days, the situation at hand didn't require much in the way of girl talk. "Violet, I called because I needed to ask you something..about our brother."

The voice on the other end would go quiet for a moment, the happy giggling seemingly replaced by hesitation. "Louis..isn't here anymore, he got accepted as a Limiter and is currently enrolled at the U.K. branch of Genetics. And besides, after everything that happened between you two I didn't ever expect you to be concerned about his well-being."

"I'm not talking about Louis, I'm referring to our other sibling." Satellizer would take a shaky breath as she realized what had to be done, she would have to coax Violet into revealing the truth about Abel, the fact that she was still hesitating at admitting the truth. "Please Violet, I need you to tell me what happened to Abel!"

Violet would audibly gasp over the other end of the phone. Clearly, she had delivered quite the shock by mentioning their brother. "…I haven't heard from Abel since his last letter from Marrakesh two months ago, I debated sending an investigator to check in on him, but Father advised against it and wouldn't hear any argument for it." The older L. Bridget would go silent once again, even going as far as to physically set the phone down judging by the soft dropping noise she was now hearing.

" _Dammit, Violet didn't take that too well. Maybe he was a lot closer to her despite his insistence on wanting to protect me…"_ The blonde-haired Pandora would frown as she readied herself to continue speaking, if the mere mention of Abel was enough to upset her usually even-tempered sibling then what would come next would no doubt shake her to the core. "Abel's not in Marrakesh anymore, he's arrived here in West Genetics. And..he's changed, I'm not sure what those people did to him, but he's not the little boy you once knew."

Silence would be the only reply she'd receive in exchange for this revelation, if Violet had heard any of this information, she was no doubt more than concerned about the young man and was likely hiring that investigator to pursue the issue.

" _I guess I have no choice but to deal with him myself, if Violet starts making waves here then that crackpot of a scientist might run off with him!"_ She would hang up her phone in quiet resignation after two more minutes of silence, deciding to shower before heading to bed for the night. _"Between this and the situation with Kazuya, I have a very bad feeling about the future."_

Despite her apprehension, the mere thought of the kind-hearted Limiter would bring the flutter of butterflies to her stomach and a very uncharacteristic blush to her cheeks as she stripped down and headed into the bathroom to try and calm herself.

 _ **There's a reason the origin story usually comes first.**_

Abel would shudder as the night breeze hit his skin as he and Arnett slowly walked around West Genetics' surprisingly vast campus, however every step seemed to be accompanied by a dull and slowly mounting ache of pain. "Arnett-Senpai, not that I don't enjoy your company or anything but..is there any particular reason you wanted to walk with me?"

Arnett would roll her eyes at such a mundane question, swatting him in the back of the head lightly before chuckling. "You really can't just enjoy a good thing can you Little Frog?" The redhead could feel his inquisitive eyes on her and go to try and smack him again, only to smile as he quickly sidestepped her. "Seriously, I just want to know what would drive someone as normal as you to sign up to be someone's guinea pig. You'd have better luck as a Limiter."

Abel would go silent for a few more steps, debating on whether to reveal his connection to Satellizer and the L. Bridget family to Arnett. "There's..someone I want to protect, and the way I was before the experiments, that Abel never would've made it out of basic training." The rose-haired Pandora would clench and unclench his fist nervously as he slowly turned to face his Swiss-born Senpai, his eyes glistening with tears as he tried to keep a bright smile on his face. "So I chose to make myself into a lab rat all for the sake of someone who barely cared that I existed, and when I was ready to give up..that's when you and Attia-Senpai finally appeared."

The young man would look to Arnett for guidance, a comfort that had not been felt since he had been exiled to Marrakesh and had begun to let Parcé tinker with his very genetic makeup. Ticy Phenyl had tried to give him a sense of warmth and belonging, but he had abolished that connection himself out of fear for what the scientist would try and do with her if their connection deepened.

"That's bullshit." Arnett would glare at her de-facto protégé as she absorbed the knowledge of what she'd been told, almost incensed at his reasons for undergoing something that for all intents and purposes shouldn't have worked. "You risked your life for some bitch who probably had no idea who you were, and now not only are you unable to return to anything resembling a normal life, you could very well die on the battlefield if I don't drag your ass to something resembling a competent Pandora!" The red-haired woman would turn on her heel, quietly seething at both him and whatever woman drove him to such a moronic decision.

"Then why did you do it? What makes your reason for becoming a Pandora any better than mine Senpai?!" Abel could feel his body trembling with anger as the familiar rose-colored energy began to seep out of his body, the hum of power straining to be let loose against her. "Tell me, are you upholding some great family tradition just like most of the other third-years. Is this your sick way of trying to keep me under your heel!?" He would manifest his Volt Weapon wordlessly before rushing forward to attack her, his anger blinding him to the fact that Arnett was already preparing to counter him.

"You really are stupid, aren't you?" She would calmly duck underneath the blade of the young man's scythe, grabbing him by his neck and slamming him to the ground effortlessly before kneeling and looking him dead in the eyes. "I'm a commoner, just like I'm betting you are Little Frog. As for why I joined up, it was because of a promise I made to my dad." The slashing trickster would watch as the fight slowly drained from his eyes, but she still wasn't quite ready to let him free.

"I was a bit of a brat back in the day, I didn't think much of the Pandora at first either, but papa was over the moon at the thought of his little girl becoming one of Earth's great protectors against the Nova." Arnett would smirk suddenly before deciding to straddle the young man, watching as the blood rushed to his cheeks (and possibly other places) before pinning his arms above his head and continuing to speak. "My papa took a job delivering some things to San Francisco when I was fourteen, during the trip we ran into a couple of Pandora from the America branch..although judging by the way they were dressed you wouldn't have guessed it." The redhead would smirk as she felt something stirring beneath her, enjoying just how easily his cage was rattled.

Abel would try to struggle against her, wondering just what the hell she was trying to accomplish by keeping him in this position while telling him what basically equated to her life story. "This is way too open Senpai, what if someone sees us?" He would look up at her pleadingly, hoping against hope that she got the hint and stop messing with him. Only to receive a raised eyebrow of curiosity before relenting in his struggles and deciding to play along with whatever she was trying to accomplish. "So, you picked up a pair of Pandora's on the way to the Golden State, then what happened? They talk you into joining the good fight?"

Arnett would laugh uproariously at this statement, the young man below her trying to look anywhere but at her breasts as she laughed. "Oh Gods no, I called them every dirty name that I could think of until my dad and I dropped them off at a hotel." She would sigh and release one of his arms, tilting his chin until they were once again eye-to-eye. "But one day my papa took a job from some not-so scrupulous individuals, we were shot at, our truck run off the road and my father seemed set on making sure I survived even if it meant he and our truck plummeted over the guardrail and exploded."

Abel would gulp quietly, not knowing what else to say as she looked down at him with a serious expression. "Senpai..I'm so sorry, to have lost your father because of some lowly thugs." The rose-haired young man would look at her sympathetically, as if he had experienced something similar over the course of his own life. "I'm sure he's looking down at you from heaven, no doubt he's very proud of you."

"Oh, I know he is. I talk to him once a week." The redhead would smile quietly before pinning his hands back above his head and leaning forward to the point where her lips briefly brushed up against his. "What, I never said he died! Those two Pandora from before would eventually come back to save papa, not to mention how fast they dealt with the mook who shot at us." Arnett would spare him one last smile before releasing him from her grip and standing up, making sure to examine just what kind of effect she had on him before helping him up off the ground.

"I kind of understand what you're trying to get at Senpai, but..I stand by my decision for joining the professor's experiment." He would wince as her expression once again soured, no doubt she was wondering if he'd truly learned anything from her words. "But that doesn't mean it's my only reason for staying, I want to become strong..just like my Senpai!"

Arnett would smirk mischievously at this comment, almost as if she expected him to try and curry her favor. " _And they call me a lapdog, seems like this little puppy has some brains in that head after all."_ She would gesture for him to follow her back to the third-year dorm with her, not even bothering to wait for him to catch up to her side. "By the way, you need to work on keeping a cooler head Little Frog. But it's nice to know just how much you appreciated my little performance back there, keep that up and I might start thinking you've got a crush on me."

Abel would turn away from her in order to hide the blush forming on his cheeks, but as the pair continued to walk alongside one another, the more he believed that the Slashing Trickster wasn't far off the mark.

 _ **Pleased to meet you, won't you guess my name?**_

After finally getting out of the shower and clearing her head of earlier doubts, Satellizer had made her way to Sister Margaret's office, if anyone would have the answer to Abel's current whereabouts in the academy then it would be her.

"You had no right to make such a deal without my knowledge!" She would scowl instinctively, not expecting to have had been beaten there, much less by that manipulative woman Ciel. "Abel Reinhardt is property of the Marrakesh Research Branch, as such all requisitions regarding him are to be put in writing and sent directly to me!" The Untouchable Queen would clench a fist in irritation, the fact that she was talking about her brother like he was some disposable hard drive would have been enough to piss her off as it was.

"How can you talk about him like he's some sort of tool, he's a human being with hopes and dreams!" The blonde-haired Pandora would raise a curious eyebrow as she tried to place who the second voice belonged to, although judging by their words it seemed that they were there to support her sibling in a way she had failed to. "Abel deserves to be given a chance to form bonds and grow as a person, you can't just treat him like some soulless machine!"

The professor would cackle in response to the second voice's words, it was as if she had heard the punchline to an excellent joke and couldn't be bothered to restrain her mirth. "Heh heh heh, you're not too far off in that regard dearie." While Satellizer couldn't tell exactly what the ambitious woman was doing, she could hear the distinct tapping of keystrokes and crept closer to the door in hopes of getting a good look at whatever was being shown. "The Stigmata residing inside of your precious Abel are very unique to him, built in such a way as to forego the need of a partner in order to form the Ereinbar Set thus allowing him to negate the effects of a Freezing area by sheer force of will alone."

The blonde-haired Pandora would do her best to read the display, a video of several Limiters focusing their Freezing abilities on him would cause her to grit her teeth at the pain etched on her brother's face. " _He put himself through such terrible hardships, all for my sake."_ Her mind would flashback to the incident on the roof with Miyabi, he hadn't been trying to defend the Limiter Eater so much as he was trying to keep her from murdering the woman and causing them to be separated once again. " _If I had just heard him out from the beginning…"_

The display would begin to flash suddenly as a rose-colored aura began to leak from Abel's body, the Untouchable Queen would watch on in stunned silence as Abel stood up and shrugged off the combined effects of several Freezing fields.

"Absolutely marvelous isn't it, the power of Negation Field could be the key to finally evening the playing field between the Nova and all of humanity." The lavender-haired woman would shut off the display with a smug smirk, the room effectively having gone silent at his display of power. "Although as you've no doubt noticed it's not completely without its side effects, I still have yet to completely master a system to prevent leakage of his Stigmatic energy during use. A small defect, one that will be ironed out upon his safe return to my quarters." Parcé would make her exit with a confident stride, briefly locking eyes with a stunned Satellizer who quickly chased after her down the hallway.

"You monster! Just what the hell did you do to him!?" Satellizer would summon her Volt Weapon and point it at the scientist's neck coldly, after everything she had heard she was in no mood to be subtle about her intentions. "He was just a boy, a boy who wanted to protect me and you took advantage of him!"

"Hmph, so now you finally decide to open your eyes to the truth and accept him as your kin. How overjoyed he would've been to hear such words, granted he might not feel so happily about it given who holds his reins." The lavender-haired woman would ignore the cold bite of steel on her neck, choosing instead to bring up the logo of the Mably family and smile to herself. "Isn't it ironic: One great family expels their child after a valiant attempt to protect his precious sibling, only to be taken in by the daughter of a different noble house after he has sworn to fight against the very sister who caused him to be expelled in the first place. Quite the ungrateful cur if you ask me." The scientist would calmly walk away from her despite the threat of decapitation, knowing that she wasn't in any real danger of incurring the Queen's wrath.

"Stop! I said stop dammit!" Satellizer's vision would blur as tears threatened to spill, she knew that attacking a foreign representative would no doubt get her expelled from Genetics, and that's if she was fortunate enough to avoid a prison sentence. "Just tell me where he is, I need to apologize for what happened!" The blonde-haired woman would fall to her knees as the lavender-haired scientist continued to walk away, any hope she had for a peaceful reconciliation seemed to go with her.

 _ **This was a nightmare to get going, mostly because who was going to be greeting Abel once he got out of the shower: Do I go with Ticy, the first of the third years who inserted herself into Abel's life and is very much worried about his well-being?**_

 _ **Should i have gone with Elizabeth in order for her to reinforce the mindset of doing things the proper way like all good Pandora should?**_

 _ **Should i have gone with Creo or Attia just for the curve ball factor?**_

 _ **Obviously i chose none of these, i'm really digging writing Arnett and being able to tell her backstory while having further saucy interactions with the usually modest Abel really bring a smile to my face. Hopefully you all feel the same, because apparently i still have a poll running on my profile page pertaining to this story.**_

 _ **Thank you so much for putting up with my lack of a proper uploading schedule, 2018 was a nightmare for me and 2019 isn't exactly off to a roaring start either.**_

 _ **But i promise you that I haven't given up on this story, not one bit. I'll continue to write and plan, and slowly climb that mountain until we finally reach the end.**_

 _ **Until next time, may 2019 bring you great fortune and happy days.**_


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